2011-08-17
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
The CLERK: Honourable members, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform members that response to petition No 50 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response will be placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition.
Petition No 50
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise the presence in the gallery of students from Years 4, 5 and 6 at Driver Primary School accompanied by Ms Patti Turner, Ms Nicole Tsirbas and Mrs Margaret Harmsen. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Bill presented and read a first time.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to make a range of changes to criminal justice legislation within the Justice and Police portfolio. The amendments result from the Department of Justice and other stakeholders identifying various problems and improvements which could be made to the affected acts. The bill will improve the functioning of the criminal justice system and will ensure the Territory’s laws and democratic institutions are robust and effective. It is yet another measure this government has taken to build a safer and stronger Territory.
In total, five acts are amended. These are the Bail Act, the Criminal Code, the Juries Act, the Parole and Prisoners Act and the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Act. The key amendments are as follows.
The bill amends section 33 of the Bail Act to allow magistrates and justices to review police bail decisions on their own initiative. It does not alter the types of decisions these judicial officers may currently make on a review. This amendment solves an uncertainty for the courts. It ensures that judicial officers have a clear power to review and discharge bail orders in order to issue a remand warrant, thus allowing an offender to be transferred from a watch house to a prison. This was a source of some uncertainty in the past and caused some people to be detained in watch houses rather than prisons.
The bill repeals section 42 of the Criminal Code. Section 42 currently excuses a husband or wife from criminal liability for property damage offences to their spouse’s property. This section prevents police and victims from using criminal sanctions in domestic violence matters involving property. It also denies married people the same criminal law protections that are enjoyed by the rest of society, including de facto couples. The repeal of this anachronistic provision brings the Northern Territory into line with other jurisdictions and reflects modern community standards.
The bill also amends section 11(2) of the Juries Act to raise the age of persons who may opt to permanently exempt themselves from jury service from 65 years to 70 years. This amendment is designed to ensure the jury pool in the Territory remains at a sustainable level. This amendment is vital, not only to ensure we have enough capable jurors to meet the needs of our criminal justice system, but also to ensure that our juries are representative of our community as a whole. The amendment is not retrospective so, where people over 65 years have already obtained an exemption, their exemption will be maintained. I am confident our older Territorians will embrace this change to the jury system and will welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important community service.
The bill also makes minor technical amendments picked up in the drafting process to sections 5(8A) and 5(8B) of the Parole of Prisoners Act. These amendments remove references to repealed legislation but do not affect the operation of these subsections.
Lastly, the bill amends sections 19A, 48, 49, 83 and 92 of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Act to increase the maximum penalty for offenders who breach these provisions from two years imprisonment to five years imprisonment. These sections create various offences for child sex offenders who breach their prohibition or reporting obligations. This increase in maximum penalties enhances the legislation’s deterrence effect, brings penalties into line with some of the other jurisdictions, and keeps pace with community expectations about appropriate levels of penalty for child sex offenders who have breached their obligations.
Many stakeholders, including the judiciary, the legal profession, Northern Territory Police, Northern Territory Correctional Services, the Parole Board, the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and Legal Aid agencies were consulted in the development of this bill. I thank these stakeholders for their valuable contributions and insights throughout the consultation process.
In conclusion, this bill represents another example of our government’s commitment to strengthening the Territory’s criminal justice system.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 5 May 2011.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I indicate at the outset that the Country Liberals will not be opposing this bill. It is a vehicle by which the processes of arbitration in the commercial environment will enjoy a unified approach across the nation and, indeed as I understand it, into other jurisdictions in the OECD.
We have our own commercial arbitration legislation in the Northern Territory. There are elements of it which are inconsistent with the uniform approach. Members on this side of the House would never prevent a sensible bill from being passed that would enable business, which is often now co-located outside of jurisdictional boundaries, from enjoying similarity of law in both of those jurisdictions, because it makes the process of arbitration plainer to all concerned, no matter what jurisdiction you are in. It would be unwise, I suspect, for us on this side of the House to oppose something unless there was a matter of profound concern to us.
Perhaps one or two minor technical details would have raised an eyebrow, but certainly not sufficient for us to say to business we would not support a legislation which would make the business environment more effective. Consequently, government can enjoy the support of the Country Liberals in relation to this bill. That is about it.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support of this legislation which stemmed from a Standing Committee of Attorneys-General agreement in May 2010 to draft this new uniform commercial arbitration legislation. It is based on the United Nations Commission on International Trade law which has model law on international commercial arbitration. It is supplemented by additional provisions as deemed necessary or appropriate for the domestic commercial arbitration scheme.
The Commercial Arbitration (National Uniform Legislation) Bill of 2011, which we have before us, repeals the existing Commercial Arbitration Act. It provides a new procedural framework for the conduct of domestic commercial arbitrations. Equivalent bills have been passed in New South Wales and Tasmania and introduced in Western Australia and South Australia. The remaining jurisdictions of our nation also intend to introduce this legislation.
Additional consultation on the mediation arbitration provision in clause 27D has been finalised, and these issues have now been resolved. It gives us a contemporary commercial and arbitration system that is consistent with the Commonwealth’s international arbitration law, and it reflects the accepted world standard for arbitrating commercial disputes.
I will just take us through some of the key features of this bill. It provides parties with flexibility and autonomy in selecting the arbitrator or arbitrators to decide their dispute. It enables parties to agree on the number of arbitrators and the processes by which they will be selected, and how they may be challenged. It enables an arbitral tribunal to determine whether it has jurisdiction in a dispute, and also to enable a party to seek a ruling if they do not agree with a tribunal’s determination that it has jurisdiction. It enables an arbitral tribunal to have power to grant interim measures for purposes such as maintenance of the status quo and the preservation of assets and evidence. It enables an arbitral tribunal, subject to the parties otherwise agreeing, to conduct arbitration on a stop-clock basis so as to conduct arbitrations in a manner that is proportionate to the amount of money involved and the complexity of the issues in the matter. It enables parties to agree on the procedure to be followed by an arbitral tribunal to enable conduct of proceedings to be adapted to that particular dispute. It enables parties, with the consent of the arbitral tribunal, to make an application to the court to issue a subpoena requiring a person to attend arbitral proceedings or to procure documents. It enables an arbitrator to act as a mediator, conciliator, or other non-arbitral intermediary if the parties agree to provide further flexibility for parties to agree on how their disputes are to be determined. It provides default confidentiality provisions to cover situations in which an arbitration agreement does not cover confidentiality.
Madam Speaker, this bill introduces absolutely sound contemporary arbitration practices in commercial matters for the Territory, and I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MOTION
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly – Public Information Act – Review of Public Information
Continued from 29 March 2011.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I begin by saying I respect the Auditor-General’s recommendation. He raised some technical issues that have resulted in alterations to the way the department references these messages.
As outlined by my department in its submission to the Auditor-General, the facts on container deposit legislation speak for themselves. A cleaner environment and grocery and beverage prices are no more expensive in South Australia under this scheme.
The Auditor-General has made a technical assessment in a number of areas in the sense that the source of data in support of the statements in the advertising was not disclosed. As my department has pointed out, the advertisement included a link to the Greening NT website where this material can be found. In response to the findings of the Auditor-General, future newspaper advertisements from my department will include references for similar type activities, rather than refer readers to a website for the source of the information, to clearly clarify fact from comment.
What we need to be clear on is that, at every stage in the lead-up to the debate on the container deposit legislation bill last sittings, government sought to set out the facts to Territorians in the face of a significant public scare campaign.
In January 2011, in response to misleading advertising from an anti-Cash for Containers lobby group regarding the proposed Cash for Containers legislation, the Territory government commenced an advertising campaign to inform the community of the facts around proposed legislation. This advertising campaign by the Northern Territory government was known as Cash for Containers – Just the Facts. This campaign featured newspaper, radio, Internet and television advertising, and corrected the mistruths being advertised by the grocery and beverage industry on the Cash for Containers scheme. The Just the Facts campaign communicated five key principles around Cash for Containers:
(1) the Territory government’s Cash for Containers initiative will be introduced later this year;
In February, the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport received a letter from the Auditor-General outlining that he was reviewing the newspaper advertising component of the campaign under the Public Information Act following its referral to him by the opposition. The referral to the Auditor-General was in relation to section 6 of the act, where it was claimed by the opposition the information was misleading or factually inaccurate, or did not clearly distinguish a statement of fact from a statement of comment.
My department responded in good faith to the Auditor-General, outlining the factual nature behind each of the five statements in the Just the Facts campaign. My department’s responses are detailed in the Auditor-General’s report, along with the factual reference behind each of the Just the Facts statements.
The Auditor-General found my Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport had made factual statements in two of the five statements being: ‘the Territory government’s Cash for Containers initiative will be introduced later this year’, and ‘Cash for Containers is not a tax’.
My department’s references to other statements are outlined in the Auditor-General’s report as well as on the www.greeningnt.gov.au website.
In relation to the message that Cash for Containers has been in place in South Australia for over 35 years, my department advised the Auditor-General that while the advertisement did not provide a direct reference to the factual statement that Cash for Containers works in South Australia, the advertisements reads: ‘for more facts about Cash for Containers go to that website’. This website contains reference for the basis of the statement and the source of the fact. This source was the Recyclers of South Australia Incorporated which cited the success of container deposit legislation through increased rates of recycling and less container litter.
Future departmental advertisements will include references for similar type activities rather than refer readers to a website for the source of the information.
In relation to the message that grocery and beverage prices are not more expensive in South Australia under Cash for Containers, my department advised the Auditor-General that this statement was based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data for average retail prices of selected items from capital cities from the September to December quarter 2010. This data is available on the ABS website. The data shows grocery and beverage prices in Adelaide, where a Cash for Containers scheme operates, are not more expensive in places where it does not exist, such as Perth and Hobart. Additionally, the data shows grocery and beverage prices in Adelaide are comparable with other capitals such as Brisbane, where the scheme does not exist. From that ABS data, it was deducted that grocery prices are not more expensive in South Australia under Cash for Containers, so prices in the Territory under Cash for Containers should not need to increase either.
While the advertisement did not provide a direct reference for the statement, the advertisement reads: ‘For more facts about Cash for Containers go to the government website’. This website contains reference for the statement and source of this fact. Future NRETAS advertisements will include reference for similar type activities rather than refer readers to a website to source the information.
In reference to the message that ‘Cash for Containers will mean a cleaner, greener Territory’, my department advised the Auditor-General that when Cash for Containers is introduced it will result in notable reduction of the beverage container litter in the environment, which will result in a cleaner, greener Territory. This conclusion is based on research that the Northern Territory beverage container litter items constitute approximately 10% of the national level, despite the Territory being only 1% of the population.
In South Australia, where Cash for Containers has been in place since 1977, it has 7.4% of the national population, and contributes only 4% of the national beverage container litter. These figures are from the 2009-10 Keep Australia Beautiful national litter count, August 2010, McGregor Tan Research.
While the advertisement did not provide a direct reference for the statement ‘the Cash for Containers will mean a cleaner, greener Territory’, the advertisement reads: ‘For more facts about Cash for Containers go to the government website’, which contains reference for the statement and source of this fact. Future NRETAS newspaper advertisements will include reference for similar type activities, rather than refer readers to a website for the source of the information to clearly clarify fact from comment.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, I let Territorians know that our Cash for Container scheme is a fantastic initiative. It will boost recycling, reduce litter, and help kids, sporting organisations, and schools to raise funds.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, ouch! The underbelly of this Labor government has been exposed. I expect the Leader of Government business to rise to his feet at some point to be consistent with his grave concerns about that which is appropriate and correct in the operation of the parliament and the actions of government or opposition. He should have no other place to stand but to pass scorn upon the actions of his own government.
The history of this matter is there was public concern given voice to by the opposition that public funds were being used by this Labor administration to promote itself and its own programs in the lead-up to an election. The community was concerned. In fact, the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, had identified this was a legitimate concern which required a response. Leadership was shown from the opposition that there needed to be a better way of doing things. There was consultation between the opposition - which was small at the time - and the government that there needed to be a vehicle to ensure public funds were expended in an appropriate way. Out of that came the Public Information Act.
What I said in discussing this last week was there was an understanding in the development of this Public Information Act that it would not curtail the capacity of the opposition to be able to speak to the electorate, to the community, but it would apply to the expenditure of public funds in providing proper scrutiny that it is correct and accurate.
That decision and undertaking, which was made in good faith by the opposition, was reneged on by the Labor government. The result of that has been the mechanism established in good faith and as a response to this Territory community - and, in fact, the national community - that money should be used appropriately, became a tool for the Labor government.
I remember the Chief Minister lecturing me; standing on his high moral ground and denigrating the Leader of the Opposition. What he should have recognised was the ground on which he was standing was ground that had been provided to him through an understanding established in negotiations with his own Chief of Staff. The Leader of Government Business stood up on the occasion and made the observation that the attitude of the opposition was one of cause for grave concern. In daring to question and comment on the decisions of the Ombudsman, we could be construed - in the argument constructed by the learned member for Johnston - we take the posture of bullying and intimidating public officials. All that sounded great; they stood their ground and made these assertions with such glee that I found it disturbing. There was an undertaking, but that was reneged on. That is called betrayal, effectively.
Second, the tool was established in good faith to protect the interest of the community, ensuring the money spent is spent in a way that is to genuinely inform and advise and not for political purposes. That tool was then applied to the opposition so, effectively, we are not able to communicate. They are very happy; no wonder there is this glee.
As a consequence of this hypocrisy of the Labor administration, I then had to look at some of the material being produced for public consumption. Of course, I needed to respond and I wrote to the Ombudsman drawing to his attention some money that was spent to communicate some messages. I thought if it is good for this goose, it is good for that gander.
It was found, excused and explained away by the minister saying: ‘We complied in two of the six’ - or something like that. ‘Two of the five. There you go, everything is hunky-dory. We got it right on two’. What you were meant to say is you got it wrong on 40% of the occasions - you did not comply with the requirements of the Public Information Act. I ask you to consider, minister, and member for Johnston, if this were the opposition what would your speech be in this parliament today? What would you be saying? What high ground would you be standing on? What fingers would you be pointing?
The Chief Minister would probably try to tear down the character of the opposition and expose them as being hypocrites. You are hypocrites because you have failed to comply with your own act. Yet, you have an explanation, a veiled criticism of the Ombudsman when it is quite plain to see you have contravened the provisions of your own act that you have used against the opposition. You have been found out!
The thing is, though, this is not something for the opposition to think: ‘Oh, we have you now’. The community knows, they can see you, they have understood your character and your personality as an operation, and they have already made their judgment. They know you by your actions, by all your words and all your spin, over all those years. No matter what you say, it is not going to make much difference; they have already made their mind up.
I commend honourable members of this Chamber, just have a quiet look at this and reconsider. More importantly, members of the community who are assessing these matters and making their judgment on this appalling and hypocritical Labor administration, please read the Public Information Act, A Review of Public Information Referred to the Auditor-General, March 2011. Have a read of it, and it will confirm your instinct: yes, we have something not right in the Northern Territory. They can say all they like, but we have given up on them, because they are not consistent. They pretend they are genuine, they use those tools they have been provided with, they say - no one believes it any more – in the public interest. It is for political interest.
When you get caught out we get a wimpy response, an explanation: ‘We got it right on a couple of occasions’. What, effectively, you are meant to say is if it were your attack on the opposition, you would probably censure the opposition. You would send out all kinds of communication about how terrible the opposition is.
Before I go on to some of these determinations of the Ombudsman on the public record, this is an administration that is deeply inconsistent. You hide behind a veil that is not covering your nakedness anymore; we can see it quite plainly …
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: The Auditor-General, I should say, my correction …
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr MILLS: … has assessed this quite plainly. Now, here we go, the member for Johnston is getting himself prepared to defend his little outfit over there. Do whatever you like, say whatever you like, no one is listening anymore. They have made their mind up. Here we have …
Ms Lawrie: Agreed with the Auditor-General when he pointed out that law.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr MILLS: I gave an explanation …
Ms Lawrie: You did not agree with him.
Mr MILLS: There is an explanation. You clearly do not have ears that actually hear. There was an explanation …
Ms Lawrie: You did not agree with him.
Mr MILLS: You just mock concern. You are a joke and a phony! You do not have any credibility when it comes to the matters of the truth and integrity ...
Ms Lawrie: Yes, I do.
Mr MILLS: So you say. We will run the public test on that one ...
Ms Lawrie: Absolutely.
Mr MILLS: The minister, in his lame defence of covering up the hypocrisy of the true state and nature of this government, omitted these elements in his contribution, in his feeble attempt at excusing the actions of government which are, frankly, hypocritical.
It said the Auditor-General had a matter referred to him by a member of the parliament. Well, unlike the Labor administration, I will put my name to this – I wrote the letter, whereas the complaint that was issued against the opposition is anonymous. No one has stepped up and said: ‘I actually wrote that letter’. I would like to have someone on the government side stand up and say: ‘I actually wrote that letter’. Could anyone come forward and say they have their name to that letter and they are genuinely concerned? I was genuinely concerned - I was more concerned about hypocrisy than anything else. I raised this concern - the member for Blain that is - raised this concern. I will quote from his report:
Cash for containers, it was alleged …
Just the facts; these are facts. Okay? They alleged that these are facts. This is an ad that is paid for by taxpayers. Is it, in fact, a fact? One of the conclusions at the bottom of page 5 is that:
Whatever words are described to cover that and mask that hypocrisy, they say: ‘We will do better in the future’. Well, you have breached the act. Their next statement was:
That was a statement, as you say, of fact. The conclusion by the Auditor-General is that:
That means it is put forward as a fact, but it is actually a comment. That means it is masked as a fact, but it is, in fact, a comment, and you need to do better if you want to go down that line. It went on to say:
Mr Giles: Propaganda.
Mr MILLS: That is the word for it, propaganda! And taxpayers have paid for it. You are inconsistent and you are hypocrites. There is another statement of so-called fact that taxpayers have paid for:
Should have a bumper sticker, I reckon. What they are saying is a statement of fact. It is a fact, something you can build something on, something real. The Auditor-General said, on page 6:
A fact? It is an assertion:
That is the reality there: you have been caught out, you are exposed, people can see it, now it is being confirmed.
In summary, the Auditor-General concluded:
So, Madam Speaker, it is plain for all to see further confirmation that we have an outfit here that can say one thing and do another - everyone knows that. The judgment has already been made; the Auditor-General has confirmed the judgment of many in our community. I ask, from this point forward, that we take a bit more seriously than just ensure the Public Information Act is actually used. I have given my explanation and, if your explanations are to be given any credence, it is done in context of what I have already described: that there was a discussion, we participated in the construction of the Public Information Act, there was an agreement, there was an understanding that has been reneged on by the Labor administration, and we will keep it up, we will just keep watching.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I suppose the first point to make is a question really. Does the opposition support the container deposit scheme? Do you support it? I was under the impression that you did. I am getting a yes from the other side. If you do, surely you support it on the basis that it would lead to a cleaner, greener Territory? Surely it was on the basis, in summary, that it would lead to a cleaner, greener Territory? It is a bit difficult to find out where you are coming from, apart from political points that are being made by the Leader of the Opposition.
The Leader of the Opposition has today challenged the government, because we had a go at the Leader of the Opposition last week over his response to the Auditor-General in relation to material that was sent out from the Leader of the Opposition’s office, which I believe was blatant political advertising during an election campaign. It just so happened that the member for Warringah happened to be in a photograph that was published, along with other members of the federal parliament, during an election campaign. That is my recollection.
The major difference is, in his response to the Auditor-General, the Leader of the Opposition respectfully disagreed with the Auditor-General. He did not share the point of view; he did it respectfully - so he said.
The difference is that government has acknowledged in this case - in this complaint that is being referred to the appropriate statutory authority - that yes, we did get it wrong. We did get it wrong, and we did not attribute as fully as we should have certain statements. We should have made it plain that certain statements were expressions of opinion - opinions which, nonetheless, are shared by the opposition.
It is obvious the Opposition Leader has moved to his high moral ground. He even talked about - in a biblical sense - covering our nakedness, going back to the garden of Eden and the snake, and the tree of life, and biblical allusions; in being self-righteous about accusing the government of reneging on a deal.
He has form in this regard also - I will come back to the opposition’s form on this - where he promised Leo Abbott a job. He said, and I will quote again …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the standing orders relating to relevance.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come back to the point reasonably soon please. While we allow a level of latitude …
Dr BURNS: There has been a high moral ground taken here and that was alluded to by the Opposition Leader. He alluded to a different case where he believed that government was not telling the truth and it had …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, as long as it is just for a very short period. I mean latitude …
Dr BURNS: It will be for a short period, Madam Speaker ...
Madam SPEAKER: I am getting a little tired of latitude.
Dr BURNS: It will be for a limited time, Madam Speaker; it is just about two sentences:
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He is already two sentences over the boundary he set himself. I again draw the House, and your attention, to the standing orders relating to relevance.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you could come to the point fairly soon. Bear in mind that in calling this point of order in relation to relevance that it affects everyone in the House. In calling this point of order and asking the minister to come to the point, this will then affect every member in future speeches, member for Port Darwin. Minister, just get on with your speech.
Dr BURNS: He said:
Dr BURNS: Finished.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Dr BURNS: I will make a comment about that, Madam Speaker. Obviously, it was a promise made to Leo Abbott about becoming a candidate for the CLP in 2012 ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you just come to the point about the Auditor-General’s report. Thank you.
Dr BURNS: I made the point, Madam Speaker. Everyone in this House knows the point I have made - and I have not even gone to his assurances to the member for Katherine that he would keep him on as shadow Treasurer.
For him to stand up in this place and point the finger at the government when we have acknowledged we did not fulfil everything that we were supposed to fulfil in that publicity around container deposit - yes, we have acknowledged that, unlike the Leader of the Opposition who continues to disagree with the opinion of the Auditor-General. That sets the difference between the government and the opposition. We had a bit of a discussion about this: will he come out and stand on his moral ground on this? Everyone said: ‘No, he cannot, he has too much vulnerability over a whole range of areas’. This is a bloke who is getting bad political advice. We know now that the numbers are close to 6:5. That was in the paper this morning. Slowly and surely, inch by inch …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We are nowhere near the bounds of the Auditor-General’s report. I ask that relevance be insisted upon.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the minister is talking about the Auditor-General’s report, but come to the point.
Dr BURNS: All right, Madam Speaker, I will finish. I commend the minister …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask that you get the member to direct his comments through the Chair, rather than …
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, member for Braitling, I think you would like to remember that one yourself.
Dr BURNS: I commend the minister for acknowledging that we did not get it right, but also acknowledging that and putting on the record, plainly and simply, the department in future will abide by the guidelines, will attribute properly expressions of opinion. An expression of opinion, as I said at the beginning, shared by the opposition, that we want a cleaner, greener Territory.
Madam Speaker, I commend what the minister has said today and cannot accept much of what the Opposition Leader has said.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I have listened to this debate very carefully, and I thank all honourable members for their intriguing contributions. Nevertheless, I want to stay on point on this particular issue. It is worth going back to the Auditor-General’s report from February this year where the Auditor-General found:
I presume he means contravention of the law did occur:
The interesting thing is, that is what the Auditor-General had to say about the Leader of the Opposition’s publication.
You must remember that the Auditor-General is not inclined to step outside of his legislative boundaries, or the legislative boundaries of the Northern Territory. The defence we have heard is the minister said: ‘I acknowledge the errors I have made’. However, the response from government in relation to the Auditor-General’s comments about the Opposition Leader’s newsletter was as follows. Mr Henderson on 9 August 2011 - a week-and-a-bit ago:
It appears the Chief Minister’s words will come back and stick in his throat. The Chief Minister has absented himself from this debate so far. I am curious to see if he engages in this debate, because now he has to say to his own minister: ‘You have a “do as I say, not as I do” style of politics’ in reference to this particular breach of the legislation.
The fact the Auditor-General saw fit to make a specific report to this House contained in its own booklet, rather than incorporated in a report, would indicate to any reasonable observer that the Auditor-General considered this particular matter more serious than to merely include it in his next report. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who has a small staff, the minister has a staff of – how many in the department? 100? 200? 300? Moreover, he has all the resources of government, including the Department of Justice, to advise whether what he is doing is breaching the law.
It is interesting to note that, in relation to this particular advertising campaign, the Auditor-General, who is interested in the law, has said the law was breached, essentially, in 60% of the occasions of the minister’s conduct. No evidence is produced to support the assertions in the advertising issued by the minister.
I have to stop here and ask: did the minister see this campaign before it went out? If he did, did he ask the question: does this comply with the requirements of the legislation? If he did not ask that question, that is an issue that deals with the competence of the minister. If he did ask the question, was he lied to by his own departmental officials? If so, was that a big, black-hearted lie to deceive the minister, or was it an oversight? In that case, what has been done to deal with the departmental officials? If he did not ask that question, that is an issue of competence for the minister. If he was not even asked or shown the advertising material beforehand - it was simply sent out without his knowledge - that is also an issue of the competence of the minister. The minister merely has to ask a critical question; not do anything more than say: ‘By the way, is this legit?’
The interesting thing is these are not the only ads that are running out there making assertions from government. I find it curious, if you look at the ad dealing with the ‘produce your licence otherwise you cannot buy booze’, there is a reference on that ad. It is the one where you say ‘60% of all violence in the Northern Territory is alcohol-related’. Then you see the little asterisk, and you peer up close to the screen, and you suddenly realise that it says: ‘sourced from unpublished crime statistics data’. What use is that? What possible use is that reference to the person observing the ad? Okay, I want to go and check that data. Oh, it is not published. This is about the integrity of the information that flows from government.
That is why the Auditor-General, I suspect, determined it was necessary to issue a separate report specifically dealing with this issue because this is about the integrity of the information that flows from government. The integrity of the information that flows from government has been found wanting; it does not comply with the legislation. It certainly seems to produce more breaches than the matter raised in relation to the issue surrounding the Leader of the Opposition. Those breaches were generated by government with all of the resources of – what? - 18 000 public servants.
That is why the Auditor-General is critical of this sort of thing; because these guys have the resources to get these things right first time, every time, and they have not. For the minister to simply walk in here and say: ‘Oh well, we tried to do the right thing; we will make sure we get it right the next time’ and, then, we heard from the Leader of Government Business that what the minister did was a ‘mere accident’ and what the Leader of the Opposition did was an ‘act of villainy’, just does not wash.
You cannot afford to be negligent when you have taken such a pious position, I suggest to the members opposite. The feigned piety of the members opposite just does not ring true out there in the public’s imagination. I do not think there are many people who look at the Northern Territory government at the moment and say to themselves: ‘Wow, what a great bunch of pious people. They do everything right and they are beyond question; they are infallible’. That is the position the government painted for itself.
I remember listening to the speech made by the Chief Minister at the time, knowing this matter was on the Notice Paper, and thinking to myself: ‘Right, we will see how the debate goes in the future’. Because you allow that debate to continue, you then see these ministers dig themselves in deeper and deeper on every occasion until, finally, this debate comes up and, all of a sudden: ‘Oh well, we are right and you are wrong, except that, basically, we have breached the law more than you guys have’. It does not wash. The public is not that interested in it. I suspect what we should be doing is getting on with the business of getting on, and simply acknowledge that none of us are perfect, and the public expect us to do our job to the best of our ability.
The contribution from the Leader of Government Business belies the fears this government has about the next Territory election. The level of rancour I have heard from the Leader of Government Business in his contribution to this debate is indicative of the level of fear and uncertainty about the future. I take that rancour, aggression, anger, spite, and venom as a clear signal that this government is worried about its future and, rather than improving itself, it seeks to diminish others.
Madam Speaker, in that case, continue to seek to diminish other people and we will see what the judgment is in a year’s time.
Motion agreed to; report noted.
Continued from 16 August 2011.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I will talk briefly to this statement, but more in regard to the schools and education facilities in my electorate, or the greater rural area, as I sometimes call it. A few nights ago, I spoke in adjournment in regard to Taminmin College. I want to again highlight the challenges that college faces as it continues to grow and the rural area continues to expand.
Taminmin College is nearly 30 years old. In 2008, middle schooling was introduced and the college was allocated $4.6m funding in the 2007-08 capital works program for new classroom facilities to support the implementation of middle year schooling. The college has doubled in size since the implementation of middle schooling and the 17-year-old leaving age requirement for students. Previously, there were 600 students; the current enrolment is now nearly 1200 students.
In comparison, a new purpose-built campus was built for Darwin Middle School at a cost of $25m and the 2009 enrolment of that school was 609 students. In 2010, $59m was allocated to construct a new Rosebery Middle and Primary School designed to cater for 1450 students. In 2009, Nhulunbuy High School, with an enrolment of 284 students, received $3.18m for middle year education and $2.6m for senior secondary education. Tennant Creek High School, with a 2009 enrolment of 240 students, has received $1.97m for a Remote Science and Language Centre, $3.4m for a new multipurpose sports facility and $1.3m for a Trade Training Centre.
I have no issues with those schools and colleges receiving that level of funding and having the infrastructure improved, but when you compare it to what Taminmin College received, $4.6m, and given the number of students enrolled in that college and the associated teaching staff, clearly, it is way behind. I ask the minister to take note of this. I know the school, through the council, is having discussions with the government. I believe we need to correct what clearly is a major deficiency in the funding arrangements and the support for Taminmin College.
For a nearly 30-year-old facility, there has been an overwhelming lack of maintenance. Despite 26 minor new works applications being submitted over the past 12 years, only nine have received approval. The Building Asset Management System has been reduced to, supposedly, inspections being undertaken every two years, which clearly is not good enough.
The school is in discussions with government, as I said, and I know the Chief Minister and other ministers will be going out to the school this Friday for the Science Fair so, perhaps, they might take the opportunity to have further inspections at the school. They will find that the science laboratories do not comply with occupational health and safety standards, the oval is unusable by students, and the gym and auditorium acoustics are so bad that it is difficult to hear what is going on. If it is the same as last year, that is where the Science Fair will be and it is incredibly noisy when there is a whole group of students and people in there.
I ask the minister for Education to take these facts and figures on board and encourage his department to take seriously the issues surrounding Taminmin College and the 1200 students and support staff who are achieving great things, as I highlighted in my adjournment debate last week. Clearly they need to have more support and more funding allocated.
I place on the record and compliment the work of the other schools of my electorate, notably the Bees Creek Primary School with Principal, John Tate. It is a very good, well-run school. The teachers are all good people, as are the support staff. They had a fundraiser, a quiz night, last Friday night which was hugely successful. I believe there were a couple of hundred people there who had a lot of fun.
The Humpty Doo Primary School Principal is Eric Smith. It is also a good school with many students, bursting at the seams, soon to complete expansions and infrastructure and improvements under the BER program.
St Francis of Assisi, the Catholic school, has Mel Bolwell as Principal. Middle Point School, is a school many people tend to overlook - and sometimes they like it that way. It is a small school out towards Fogg Dam and Narelle Dahl is the Principal. Litchfield Christian School has changed its name; it is now called Sattler Christian School. It has a great future ahead of it in regard to its expansion possibly middle school into senior school. Colin Smith is the Principal. Taminmin College has Miriam McDonald as the Principal.
They are all good schools, but they all have particular issues associated with them - growth pains, particularly Taminmin College. I ask the minister and urge the government to look at that college more closely and give it the appropriate funding it requires and deserves.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, education continues to be the No 1 priority of our government. Across my portfolios, there are countless examples of the importance of education in developing a healthy, prosperous, and vibrant Territory. The government is committed to providing what the people of the Territory have asked for in the 2030 strategic plan: for Territorians to meet or exceed the national standards for education and training; that education is promoted as a lifelong call and opportunity; and that Territorians have access to a world-class education system. The delivery of this commitment by the government is evident across all my portfolios, and I will speak about them in more detail now.
In Health, this government is proud of the opportunities we have created for school-leavers joining the health workforce to be employed in careers that will improve lives for their communities and families. In February this year, we celebrated the commencement of the Territory’s first ever full medical program. The Australian government has invested $27.8m for a new medical school facility at Charles Darwin University for first- and second-year medical students, and has expanded facilities on-site at Royal Darwin Hospital.
This initiative marks a major milestone in the history of the Territory’s health and education. For the first time ever, it is possible for Territorians to undertake their entire schooling, and tertiary education at a Territory university, remain in the community, learn about Territory health issues, and graduate as a doctor. You can go from preschool to becoming a doctor without ever leaving the Territory.
The school-leavers’ pathway commences with a new undergraduate Bachelor of Clinical Sciences program that leads 12 students into the sponsored medical program. These students will graduate with a double degree in science and medicine on completion of their studies. The three-year medical program commenced with 24 postgraduate students, fully sponsored by both the Australian and Northern Territory governments, with their university HECS fees covered. In return, the students are bonded to work for NT Health for two years at the completion of their studies. Ten of these students are Indigenous, and we are delighted to welcome these students with the potential to strengthen the cultural focus of health services.
Students will also engage in active learning at the Palmerston Super Clinic under the supervision of qualified doctors - the super clinic the CLP opposed and continues to oppose. These doctors will go a long way to turn around the traditional under-supply of GPs in the community, and will have a big impact on closing the gap on the rate of chronic disease. From 2014, we will see new, fully home-grown doctors ready to work in our hospitals and remote health centres.
A full medical program is great news for the Territory. It provides a great opportunity for our children to access a world-class education, a local, secure supply of skilled workforce, knowledge of our challenges and culture, and a magnet for experienced medicos and academics to come to the Territory to train and develop our future doctors.
My department is working closely with education and workforce providers to ensure a sustainable nursing and midwifery workforce, through development of multiple education pathways and employment pipelines. This includes engaging with Territory high schools’, senior colleges’ students and career advisors; the development of a school work experience program for future health professionals; support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student nurses and midwives through study assistance and cadetships; and study assistance programs for undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and midwifery education.
The CLP always asks what outcomes we achieve. I will tell you. Since June 2001, we have employed an additional 720 nurses in our hospitals and health centres throughout the Territory. That is an outcome. This brings the total number of nursing staff to just over 2000 by June 2011. We have also strengthened all our health services education by introducing the Certificate III in Dental Assistant training. This is now in its second year with four trainees located at Darwin Dental Clinic. The department is the only provider of this training in the Territory, and the establishment of this program is an example of the commitment to local workforce education development. Just another outcome, Madam Speaker.
Turning to child protection, one of the foundations of building opportunities for our children is to encourage them to participate in education. That encouragement starts at the family level. It is critical to support families, so we can ensure children get the most they can out of school, and develop a solid education. Part of ensuring our children get the most from school is ensuring they have a supportive home life. The Department of Children and Families provides support to Territory children and families.
The reality is, unless you have good schools you cannot get good students, and children are not given opportunities. That is the reason I have invested in the schools in my electorate and, together with the federal government, have put quite a bit of money into the primary and middle schools in my electorate.
Under the Building the Education Revolution, Alawa Primary School received $125 000 worth of new play equipment, shade structure, amphitheatre and pathways, and a $1.9m new library. Dripstone Middle School received $200 000 worth of new shade structure over outdoor sporting areas. Nakara received a $150 000 upgrade to storm water infrastructure and water reticulation, and $2.4m funding for assembly area coverage and a new canteen.
The Territory government has also contributed substantial funding to upgrade Territory schools, including in my electorate, with major renovations at Alawa Primary School, Nakara Primary School and Dripstone High School. We have invested nearly $10m. I recall the only thing Dripstone Middle School received under the CLP was a new flagpole. I know that because I was there with the member for Fong Lim, who was then the federal member for Solomon. That is the only thing they received - a flagpole. I do not recall if they gave a flag, just a flagpole. I believe I had to provide the flag.
The CLP allocated only $7m to child protection services. The current Labor government has a budget of $182m, a real commitment to build strong and healthy families, and the capacity to capitalise on the education services the Territory has to offer. To put it into perspective, child protection services have been expanded by the Northern Territory Labor government to include family support services, youth services, out-of-home care services and homelessness. We have created the position of the Children’s Commissioner, an independent position for the first time in the Territory, ensuring the wellbeing of our children. We have grown the workforce of the Department of Children and Families from around 100 people when we took over in 2001, to over 500 and will continue to support the growth of services to children and families in the Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, would you mind if I acknowledge these young people?
Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 4, 5, and 6 Driver Primary School students, accompanied by Mr Bryan Downing and Ms Natasha Ryan. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr VATSKALIS: Welcome to parliament.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, minister.
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, earlier this year we reformed the Education Act to better help our system connect and help students and families who have not been able to see the value of education. For the first time ever, the new legislation makes it mandatory for parents of students to attend compulsory meetings about the child’s attendance, enrolment, or participation.
The Australian government announced a new income management initiative as a non-discriminative measure in November 2009, which includes a child protection measure, an additional tool in the management of child neglect. This aims to ensure when children are at school they are in the best possible position and able to concentrate and absorb the education that is on offer. Under this measure, the Department of Children and Families child protection officers can make a decision that Centrelink manages 70% of a person’s income support when it is determined that poor use of financial resources is contributing to child neglect or other negative outcome for a child. At this stage, we have 85 families under this scheme.
We manage their resources because they have failed to look after their children adequately. Income management, combined with enhanced family support, provides an opportunity to address child neglect issues and, in turn, address any education issues that may be present. Non-attendance can also be a trigger for child protection notification, which will trigger an offer of resources being made available to support a child and their family if required.
Another positive step towards our commitment to education can be seen in the Alice Springs Youth Hub which was announced as part of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan. The Alice Springs Youth Hub is on the site of the former ANZAC High School. It was established to support a coordinated and integrated approach to youth services and programs in Alice Springs by providing a youth-friendly centralised site for youth services and organisations; a venue or base for youth events and activities; space for case conferencing, coordination and planning; and alternate education programs; and work and skill programs.
In January 2011, the Alice Springs Family Support Centre, the Youth at Risk Team, the Alice Springs Youth Services Coordinator, and the Youth Street Outreach team from the Department of Children and Families relocated to the youth hub. An amount of $1.1m has been committed for capital development of this site. The capital works will improve disability access, convert classrooms into office and meeting spaces, and provide for alternate education services.
The Alice Springs Youth Hub is staffed by a receptionist and a part-time activities officer. The Alice Springs Youth Services Coordinator provides an overall coordination role. This position also has a broader remit to coordinate youth service provision outside the hub. Social enterprise is an important part of the hub, with a community consultation group for the social enterprise caf already meeting every three weeks. The caf, when established, will provide training and employment opportunities for young people.
In late March this year, the hub was the venue of the Northern Territory Youth Week celebrations, including the opening event. Over 350 young people attended the celebrations and activities that were held during the week.
Alternative educational programs also operate from the hub. In February 2011, a youth worker from DCF and a teacher for the Department of Education and Training commenced alternate educational programs.
The Family Responsibility Program was announced by the Northern Territory government in 2008 as a statutory program to improve parental responsibility and control for children and young people involved in antisocial behaviour, including truancy and offending. The legislation provides for six government agencies to require parents to enter into family responsibility agreements to improve their parental control over their child or adolescent involved in antisocial behaviour. The agencies include the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Housing, the Northern Territory Police, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education and Training.
Failure to comply with an agreement can result in application to the court for an inquiry into family circumstance for a family responsibility order. The Northern Territory government provided new funding in 2008 for the establishment of two dedicated family support centres in Darwin and Alice Springs to provide the required case management and family support for young people and for their parents, carers, families subject to a family responsibility agreement. It has also co-located a senior teacher from the Department of Education and Training to assist with links to school services and truancy problems.
The Northern Territory government will be allocated $25.2m this financial year to deliver reforms to the child protection and family service system, including to enhance the family support system, enabling an allocation in 2011-12 of $3.6m. The Department of Education and Training is leading the work with the Australian government around the establishment of integrated children and family centres. The Northern Territory was allocated five child and family centres under the National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood. The sites for the centres are Palmerston, Yuendumu, Maningrida, Gunbalanya, and Ngukurr.
DET has linked the establishment of the integrated child and family centres with our Bright Start, Strong Future initiative to form the integrated family service agenda. The Department of Children and Families has a key part in this agenda. The first two sites for the Bright Start, Strong Futures initiative are Groote Island and Gunbalanya. An integrated service model for child and family support centres will build on existing service provision addressing services caps, increasing community capacity, and growing a skilled workforce - and they have been developed.
An agreed strategic approach for future investment in child and family services is essential to expand support for vulnerable children and families. To this end, a strategic investment framework is being developed to provide a structured approach to reforming and building a capacity of the non-profit sector, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child, Youth and Families Peak Body. The framework will be developed through close consultation with the NT Families and Children Advisory Council, the Northern Territory Council of Social Services, and other key peak organisations.
Agreement support has been provided from key NT government agencies and the Western Australian government to establish child safety and wellbeing teams. The teams will be placed in the 20 Territory growth towns and will take a broad role in promoting child and community safety. This will allow more targeted discussion and planning for children and families requiring support or intervention.
It is this Northern Territory Labor government that laid down the dollars and initiatives required to address the needs of children in the Territory; to support our families so children can achieve their best. This is a challenging and far-reaching process, but the Northern Territory government is absolutely committed to making real changes for the wellbeing of Territory children and families. Children are the most vulnerable people in our society. All children are entitled to live safely in a circumstance that enables them to thrive physically, intellectually, and emotionally.
When children are encouraged to pursue education, they have the opportunity to undertake tertiary study in the Territory. I, as the minister for Resources, offer a scholarship for young Territorians so they can take university study in Earth Science, Geology, Mining or Petroleum-related professional fields. These are fields in which we cannot find enough people to employ. The industry, and the government, is crying out for people to be employed. We have now resorted to bringing people in from overseas just to fill some of these gaps.
We provide scholarships to young Territorians. This scholarship is a financial assistance of $12 000 per annum for three years, assistance with gaining local employment during university vacation, and opportunities to develop skills and knowledge in the mining and petroleum industries for a student studying, or proposing to study, towards obtaining an appropriate qualification. To date, two students have completed their studies under the scholarship and both are now working in the local exploration and mining industry. I believe one other, the niece of the member for Goyder, has also gained a scholarship and is currently studying under this program.
Education is about training our own in responding to skills shortages in our mining and energy industries. I have to say, our government was the first-ever government to put these scholarships in place. It is a good initiative because not only does it support local children to be educated, but we ensure we are then able to bring the children back, young adults, to be employed either in the department or in the mining industry.
It is not only the mines department that does this, fisheries research and aquatic resource management has also provided places for numerous work experience students who are interested in a career in fisheries. Departmental staff also participate in Science Week, run by CSIRO, where they have given presentations on aspects of fisheries science to groups of schoolchildren.
Aquatic resource management staff attended the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation’s Come and Try days at Lake Alexander last year. This event invites Years 5, 6, and 7 students to try various sporting activities. Aquatic research management staff tutor kids in a range of fishing-related activities such as casting and bait collecting.
Marine rangers’ training, in conjunction with Charles Darwin University and the Water Police, provides a nationally-accredited Fisheries Compliance Certificate II which has been very successful. This course was run in 2009-10 for some 44 Indigenous male rangers. In 2011, the course has been run to include 12 Indigenous female rangers. The course delivers seafood industry units, including being linked to Coxswain Certificate Training, one of the units related to fisheries education programs. Since then, many of the ranger groups undertake talks in their local school about fisheries education.
In 2008, Fisheries engaged the Anindilyakwa Sea Rangers to undertake a survey to determine the impact of customary harvest of sharks and stingrays. The sea rangers worked with the local primary schools to engage school students in this survey. The project was extremely popular amongst the children, and gave them a good understanding of the local fish, shark and ray species they encountered. This, then, led to the establishment of the junior rangers and apprentice rangers. The Fisheries Indigenous Development Unit has also delivered school talks to primary school classes on their role in Fisheries as marine rangers.
In 2010, a presentation was delivered to Indigenous students at Jingili Primary School in conjunction with the Larrakia Rangers.
Madam Speaker, I now turn to Primary Industry and education. The Department of Resources’ Pastoral Production Team provides technical advice and assistance to the producers and the general community, which includes schools. In particular, we have had an ongoing association with Girraween Primary School over the past two to four years, and the department has provided support for the Sustainable School in Action Field Day, where officers attend the field day and the farm activities of this annual event, and provides the school farm with cows from the Department of Resources’ farm. Beatrice Hill Farm staff have had significant input into the Girraween School Farm establishment since its commencement.
Since the establishment of Taminmin College, the Department of Resources’ pastoral officers have had a continuous advisory role in the areas of primary production, animal production, weed control, and pastures. Each year, several students undertake work experience at our Douglas Daly Research Farm with our extension officers. Douglas Daly Research Farm also hosts day tours for students from Taminmin College. Beatrice Hill Farm has provided many work venues for VET classes from Taminmin College in such activities as artificial insemination, weaning, branding, and other animal husbandry procedures over many years.
The department provided technical input and equipment to the Alawa Primary School Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association rearing project in 2009. Alawa Primary School is the first primary school in the Darwin area to have its own farm. Now it has developed from a small farm to a fruit garden, where the kids grow and harvest the fruit which they then cook in their own kitchen. So, kids not only learn how to grow food, but also to utilise the food to prepare nutritious meals.
In conclusion, education is a fundamental component of the Territory 2030 strategy, and the Territory is well placed to deliver a comprehensive and integrated education system which supports children to access a world-class education right here in the Territory. For the first time, a child can go from preschool to becoming a doctor in the Territory without leaving the Territory, thanks to the initiatives of our government. Children and families have access to support where required, when required, to ensure children have the ability to capitalise on the education revolution that has taken place under this government.
Madam Speaker, times have changed. I remember when I first went to school, the first thing I had with me was a slate and a pointer. We actually carved on the slate the first letters and the first numbers, and we had to wipe it away with a wet sponge - that was, I suppose, many centuries ago. Then, we graduated to the pencil, and then, of course, to the pen. I remember the excitement when I got my first ‘big’ pen and I was able to write in blue ink. Of course, it was a bit difficult when I made a mistake and I had to erase it, because the common eraser did not work, so we had to buy the special eraser. I remember my excitement as a child when I went to the library and got my first book. Today, I do not go to the library. Today, I have my iPad and I have to decide from about 26 000 books. Things have changed from the old times with the slate, and the old library in a small room, to something where you do not need a slate, a wet sponge, or a library, because I have my library here on my desk.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I join with my colleagues on this side of the House in supporting the statement on this government’s commitment to delivering a smart Territory through quality education and training. As a parent, and someone who attended school a while ago, as well as having my portfolio areas as a government minister, I would like to contribute to this statement.
As a member of this government’s team, I am very proud of our handling of education. We have two former teachers - the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly – who bring their invaluable experience and knowledge on education into debate on the important issues of education in Caucus and Cabinet. Both members have experience of teaching in remote areas in the Northern Territory where we have challenges, and their presence in government is important for us to address the real concerns in education.
In particular, we have much more to do in Indigenous education and remote schools. The minister spoke passionately about the Every Child, Every Day strategy when he brought that to our Caucus and Cabinet. We are heading in the right direction with the Every Child, Every Day strategy. It is this government’s serious commitment to delivering a smart Territory through quality education and training. With two former teachers in our Caucus, we have robust debates and ideas about how we can address that and deliver on our commitment.
What is our commitment? As a Labor government, our foremost commitment is about improving enrolments, attendance, and participation of young Territorians through a really focused effort and strong leadership, as well as the clear and strong strategies that are needed. It is also about real partnerships. Every Child, Every Day - as the minister said, and this government continues to say on a consistent basis - is everyone’s responsibility and business.
Turning to my responsibilities as a parent, growing up three young boys in Alice Springs in the public education system has been an important lesson for me. We all face challenges as parents, and young boys particularly tend to need a bit more motivation to get up every day and get to school. I have had my challenges. However, I am proud that my two older boys have completed Year 12 education and moved on to their chosen careers after education. My youngest son is now at Centralian Middle School and thoroughly enjoying it. One of the successes of this government in engaging and improving attendance has been the Clontarf Football Academies. All three of my boys have been part of that very successful program.
As a parent, it is a matter of reinforcing and continually talking to our children. With my sons, it is what I did continually; getting them up in the mornings, encouraging them about the importance of education, and to think about what jobs they wanted to participate in when they left school. It sounds fairly basic and what all parents should do; however, it is amazing how much of a challenge it is for many parents trying to motivate kids to go to school.
Congratulations must go to many of the schools in Alice Springs as well. I get around often to many of the public and non-government schools in Alice Springs, and there are some great examples and creative programs. One I am familiar with is the Gillen Primary School in Alice Springs. The principal, who has been there for a long time, has done a fantastic job and has built a really good team around him at Gillen Primary School and is seeing some really good results.
One of the commitments of this government with Every Child, Every Day, is about building relationships. There is probably no other school in the Territory that has been able to do that better than Gillen Primary School. They have a very good relationship with the Larapinta Valley Town Camp in Alice Springs and the Amoonguna community, which is 20 km south of Alice. The principal and the strong team he has at the school have been able to build good, strong partnerships and relationships with those two communities. They are reaping the rewards of the hard work of building those relationships over many years.
As I said, they have some really innovative programs. My wife is working on the Little Strong Yerrampes program through Gillen Primary School, which is an outreach program. She is going out to the young mothers in camps at Amoonguna delivering kits to help kids prepare for preschool. That is an important part of a child’s development. We talked about this at the childcare meeting in Alice Springs; that the early years of development for young kids begins the day they are born - probably before that. My wife’s program is working with mothers of little kids getting ready for preschool, delivering resource kits to the home. They are sitting down with the mothers and fathers and getting them to sit down with their kids and start doing some of the basic cognitive learning things kids look for at that age to stimulate their minds and get them ready for preschool.
My congratulations to Gillen Primary School and the principal for some really innovative projects and good relationship building that has been done. They are reaping the rewards.
Turning to our Every Child, Every Day strategy, there is no doubt about our government’s commitment to those core principles of what we need to do to provide a really good quality education for kids in the Territory, no matter where they live. It is based on evidence, and the evidence is strong that attending school regularly, finishing school, and going on to further education and training leads to better job prospects.
Last week in parliament we debated northern Australia and the challenges we face. For me, particularly with my electorate in remote communities, it is all about jobs, jobs, jobs. Without a good education, those job prospects are certainly much harder.
Also in relation to the Every Child, Every Day strategy, one of the priority action areas that is important - there is no doubt about it, they are all priority action areas – is No 3, making schools safe and welcoming places. I go back to Gillen Primary School. That is what they have been able to do, along with building strong relationships within the school and outside the school, particularly with the Larapinta Valley Town Camp and Amoonguna.
Though my experiences as a bush MLA, I know that schools are really the foundation of communities. In tough times, in good times, you always find the school is a hub of activity and support for the broader community. Without naming communities, some communities in Stuart have had some pretty rough times over the years, and I have always found strength within the school community. Priority action No 3 of making schools safe and welcoming is so important in building strong relationships and getting the good quality education outcomes we all desire.
Some of the key strategies under that priority action No 3 include Families as First Teachers, again looking at the Little Strong Yerrampes program at Gillen. It is about supporting those parents, stimulating the need for getting kids engaged in education at a very young age, even before preschool. Families as First Teachers is also an important program and we need to continue to support all parents across the Territory no matter where they live to take on that role as their children’s first teachers.
Partnerships with non-government organisations help middle and senior school students re-engage with school. Programs such as the Clontarf Football Academy are more than just about football. Football is the vehicle to engage young Aboriginal men. It is so important, as the Chief Minister said yesterday, with 120 young Indigenous men this year graduating Year 12 in the Northern Territory – an outstanding success. The other partnership with non-government organisations is the Sporting Chance Academies for the girls and the young ladies in our schools. My hat off to people like Ricky Grace, who is using sport as a vehicle to engage young girls in our community to get back into school and stay at school.
Turning to my portfolio areas, there is a great deal of opportunity. I suppose things are changing rapidly - aren’t they? - with ICT. We heard this week about the Nightcliff school. I would love to be able to get out there, minister, to have a look at their plans and the direction they are going in being an ICT hub. I am particularly interested in that. ICT is changing rapidly, and there is probably no more reason why this government welcomes the National Broadband Network. The benefits of the National Broadband Network, as we all know - we debate it often in this House - will result in high-speed connectivity for every Australian home, workplace and, more importantly, schools.
Particularly in remote areas of the Northern Territory, we rely on really good broadband access - whether it be wireless or through the fibre. Many of the schools in my electorate have access to really good ICT services and infrastructure, and the benefits are enormous for them in delivering education programs and outcomes.
The Minister for Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources touched a little on programs in my other portfolios of Natural Resources, Environment and Sport. There are enormous opportunities in linking these programs into our education system. That is what this government is doing. I place on the Parliamentary Record some of those programs. For example, in 2009-10 we initiated the Be Crocwise education program. This program aims to increase community awareness of the dangers posed by crocodiles in and around our natural waterways. This program delivered school presentations to 94 schools in 2010 and so far this year. The schools include schools in Darwin and the rural areas and across the Katherine region, the Douglas Daly region, Wadeye and Arnhem Land. This program is evidence of the government’s ability to recognise the issues and implement effective, relevant, and targeted education programs which benefit our entire community.
This government is dedicated to developing career pathways for school students through Natural Resources, Environment, and Conservation programs. In 2010, the Territory government introduced the Taminmin College Year 10 Conservation and Land Management Certificate I program. Students learn to identify plants in the field and gain hands-on experience in seed collection, propagation, and maintenance of native plants in a nursery situation to fulfil the requirements of their study units. In addition, students visit various habitats and experience keeper talks and behind-the-scene tours to observe and identify a wide variety of native animals at the Territory Wildlife Park.
This year, we initiated a special education work experience program for Darwin High School. This program was a joint initiative between the Darwin High School and Territory Wildlife Park to expose students to gain hands-on experience in plant identification, propagation, and maintenance of a nursery for work placement. These programs have multiple benefits. They improve awareness of environmental issues within our schools and the community, while also contributing to study and education outcomes for our students.
In partnership with the Commonwealth government, we have effectively implemented the Adopt a School program in Central Australia. The Adopt a School partnership was established as the step before work experience to engage young Aboriginal students from Yipirinya School by exposing them in a culturally safe environment to different jobs. This program has led to improved self-esteem and employability skills in this growth sector of our local population.
This year marks the second year of a joint program between the Alice Springs Desert Park and the Centralian Middle School. This program is designed specifically for students from the Indigenous Transition Unit and has been developed to fit into the Northern Territory curriculum framework. While this year’s program involves growing Sturt’s desert peas for sale, through undertaking this program the students develop valuable skills in maths and English. It also gives the students a good introduction into the workplace and basic work skills, such as time management and adhering to rules and regulations of a workplace.
In addition to the obvious educational and social benefits that are gained through these programs, students are also exposed to a wide variety of career options, including zoo keeping, tour guiding, maintenance work, horticulture, nursery operations, administration, hospitality, records, retail, and education.
I place on the public record my thanks to the great teachers at Centralian Middle School who are involved in this program, but also to the staff and rangers at the Alice Springs Desert Park and the many individual businesses in Alice Springs which are getting behind this program.
Another action is the Territory government’s commitment to the Junior Ranger Program. Through this program, students learn about their natural environment, actively participate in outdoor activities that are directly relevant to environmental management, and offer opportunities to meet with park rangers and scientists. The Junior Ranger in Schools program is a strategic transition from the traditional Junior Ranger Program to embedding this program into environmental educational frameworks within schools. It provides hands-on real-life science in secondary school to link to the school curriculum, linking up the community and business to schools, and is supporting early career pathways through VET into conservation and land management.
This program has been trialled at Kormilda College and, to date, this program has been very successful. The program is moving from being a stand-alone science elective for Indigenous education students to one that will be embedded into the curriculum and, ultimately, delivered to all students in the school. This is a unique educational opportunity for our youth, providing them with clear pathways for future employment in this field.
This government has provided opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to join our Parks and Wildlife service, through the Indigenous Apprenticeship Scheme. This program provides local people with the opportunity to undertake on-the-job training while in paid employment. In addition to education and training benefits that are experienced through this program, apprentices are also exposed to career development pathways and are able to complement formal training with on-the--job exposure to real-life situations.
One of the most beneficial forms of education is through learning from the experts. This government provides school students with opportunities to learn from on-the-ground land managers, park rangers, project officers and scientists. Personnel are available to visit schools to discuss a variety of natural resource and environmental issues with students, and to actively participate in on-the-ground activities. We have promoted school visits for a variety of issues, including threatened species, bio-cultural knowledge, plant ecology, invasive animal species, weeds, fire, and water conservation. Such educational programs provide students with access to information from experienced on-the-ground personnel.
The Territory government has also promoted education in natural resources and environment through the provision of funding. We recognise providing schools with opportunities to develop education programs that have relevance to the students and the community will result in greater learning outcomes, both now and into the future. Since the implementation of the EnvironmeNT Grants program in 2004, we have contributed over $200 000 to schools to provide opportunities for students to participate in environmental projects throughout the Northern Territory ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the minister be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank the member for Barkly for the extension.
Schools across the Northern Territory have benefited from this opportunity to be involved in projects relevant to climate change, water conservation, waste management, invasive species management, and wildlife conservation. Not only do these programs provide exposure to important issues facing the Territory, they enable these students to develop skills in land management activities and become actively involved in issues that are important to them and their local communities.
This year, 13 schools were each awarded $2000 through the schools category of the EnvironmeNT Grants Program and the recipients and projects included the Maningrida CSC Fresh from the Pond project; Umbakumba creative recycling; Milyakburra School’s native tree propagation; Shepherdson College’s Junior Ranger Program; Jilkminggan School’s Keep the Dogs Out; Nhulunbuy Christian School’s self-sufficiency in remote NT vegetable gardening; Bradshaw Primary School with the Irrkerlantye Unit’s food preparation garden; Warruwi School’s worms and waste recycling; Nakara Primary School’s From Little Things; Shepherdson College again with biodiversity monitoring of Elcho Island School; Nightcliff Primary School’s native flora and native fauna; Millner Primary School’s Save the Food Scraps; and Belyuen’s beautiful bush garden.
Turning to Central Australia, the Territory government also offers $12 000 in school grants each year through another program. These grants are specifically focused on water conservation programs and activities aimed at encouraging schools and their local community to become water-wise. Through this program schools are visited by a water conservation officer who teaches the students about water conservation and management. This program has outcomes for the natural environment through improved water conservation, as well as enhanced education of the community as a whole.
With joint management of our national parks and working with rangers, traditional owners, and the wider community, we are also exposing students to a two-way learning process. This informal learning experience provides individuals with opportunities to gain improved awareness of different cultural and belief systems, alternative governance arrangements and processes, while developing new skills to balance the needs and values of different stakeholders. Such educational opportunities are unique to the Territory. This government will continue to identify, support, and foster these valuable learning opportunities for all Territorians.
Quickly turning to my electorate, much discussion has been around the Building Education Revolution projects. Schools in my electorate of Stuart have benefited significantly; particularly at Amanbidji, Barunga, Bulla Camp, Kalkaringi, Lajamanu, Laramba, Manyallaluk, Mataranka, Mt Allan, Pigeon Hole, Pine Creek, Stirling, Ti Tree, Timber Creek, Willowra, Wugularr, Yarralin, and Yuendumu. All these schools have benefited from projects including things such as covered outdoor learning areas, classroom refurbishments, resource centres, a multipurpose pavilion, grey water irrigation systems, sports storage sheds, fencing, and general repairs.
One of my priorities as Minister for Central Australia - and my colleague, the member for Casuarina touched on it - was the Youth Action Plan for Alice Springs. There has been a range of achievements under the plan which are making a real impact on youth-related issues and helping make our community safer. Engaging young people in our schools and keeping them there is a key plank of the Youth Action Plan. This means investing in quality education facilities, educators, and programs. The Centralian Middle School, a major achievement of the Youth Action Plan, is going from strength to strength and is doing a great job in engaging our kids and giving them a first-class education.
Under the Youth Action Plan, we also have implemented a No School, No Service policy which has been well supported by local businesses in Alice Springs. 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 is not cool.
This year, all nine Alice Springs government schools received funding as part of the Youth Action Plan to support innovative programs to get the kids to school and encourage them to stay there. The $252 000 in grants support the Every, Child Every Day strategy which stresses the importance of going to school each day and getting a good education to prepare them for a working life in the future.
A key component of the Youth Action Plan is re-engagement of disadvantaged secondary aged students. I recently welcomed Edmund Rice Education Australia to the Alice Springs Youth Hub. Edmund Rice will be running an outreach support and bridging program from the youth hub in a first for the Territory. Edmund Rice will work with students who need alternative programs, with the aim of developing career aspirations and pathways. They are nationally recognised as having expertise in working with the complex needs of disadvantaged young people and, through the youth hub will have two educators, two youth workers and an administration office with 20 students initially involved.
This is the first time such a program has operated in the Northern Territory, and I look forward to hearing more of its progress in getting kids re-engaged into schooling and moving into employment.
Madam Speaker, it is a clear contrast when you look at the absolute lack of planning and ideas from the opposition when it comes to education or supporting young people. Education is a key priority for this government because it provides our community with opportunities both now and into the future.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I wish to speak briefly on the education statement. First, I congratulate the schools in my electorate of Braitling. The principals and teachers have done such an amazing job – Living Waters School, Larapinta Primary School, Yeperenye, OLSH, Bath Street, and Braitling Primary School. I have a very good relationship with all those schools. I sit on some school councils, and believe everyone out there is trying to do the best for the children and students.
Occasionally I approach the minister for Education for things to make improvements to our schools. Air-conditioning has been put in place and some infrastructure work has recently been done. Braitling Primary School continues to strive for improvements for its kids. It has had difficulties, particularly with a large cohort of students turning up with emotional issues which affect them when they come to school to learn. I have worked with the minister for Education to make services available to Braitling Primary School to ensure the principal, deputy principal and the staff can try to get better servicing to those students. Some of those services are already available to Larapinta.
Recently, we moved the 40 km/h sign for the school zone on Head Street in Braitling, which is a positive move designed to get people to slow down when cars are entering the car park and students are getting in and out. I have also been fortunate enough to have the council bring out their little smiley face speed sign to indicate to drivers when they are going above 40 km/h. Anything we can do to slow people down is a good thing.
I heard the member for Stuart speak about the work of the principal at Gillen, David Glyde, who does a fantastic job at Gillen Primary School. I congratulate the work the schools in my electorate are doing in trying to re-engage with, particularly, Indigenous students, through engaging their families, and also the work they undertake in developing relationships with families, travelling around the town camps and around town to get those kids to school.
It is not like a child will live in the same house for their primary school years of life and go to the same school. People move, and what might previously have been thought of as catchment areas for individual schools - kids are now going to different schools all over town.
Braitling School uses a couple of buses to pick up its kids. It has around 45 kids it picks up every day and takes to school. One of the buses is over 30 years old and is in dire straits and needs replacing. If the school does not have the funds to repair or replace the bus, there will be a number of kids who cannot get to school. I ask the minister to look into that.
I also ask the minister to look into the need for Braitling school to have a bus shelter, or a shelter of sorts, provided for the kids who stand in the hot sun while waiting for a bus or for parents to pick them up in the afternoon. It is council land, but the school definitely needs some type of shelter provided on that land so they are protected from the sun.
Larapinta school is doing much better than many in NAPLAN results. Their school attendance is quite good. On a Friday morning, when in town and available, I sit in and see their school assembly and how things are moving along. There is difficulty with the Larapinta Primary School and Living Waters Primary School directly across the road from it on Albrecht Drive with traffic problems every morning when parents drop off their kids, and in the afternoon when parents pick up their kids. There needs to be some alternative modelling done on how we can provide a safer environment for children to be dropped off and picked up. I will work on that further and try to provide some information to the minister for Education.
I read the statement with interest. I did not think there was much in there. I have many different pieces of commentary from the statement, so I will just go through a few different things, bit by bit. I will go straight to page 3 where the minister has provided, in the second paragraph, some comparison on a like-schools basis saying that Territory schools are as good as, and if not better, than other schools in Australia. Well, that just reflects the conversations we had last week about two-speed comparisons and treating urban areas different to in the bush. I will not go on any further about that, but these racially-motivated comparisons are not right.
The minister for Business, it might have been - or it might have been the member for Stuart - spoke a little about VET education. I cannot remember exactly who spoke about the VET component in schools. It is taken in within the statement. It talked about 10 000 apprentice and training commencements. With the alignment of VET training into the education system in school and high schools, we have to be careful we get the balance right between humanities education and Vocational Education and Training education to ensure that, yes, while it is good to get apprentices and trainees - and they will help get your 10 000 numbers which is what your ultimate goal is; just getting the numbers not getting the kids trained - you have to be careful the humanities still continue. While we have CDU out there trying to become a more vibrant university on a national scale - and I recognise CDU is moving into the model of overseas students because that is where the money is – if we keep moving broadly towards a VET model in our public schools, there will not be enough people to go to high schools in the future. So, we have to get that model right.
That is a concern with Centralian Middle School at the moment. I am told there is a bit of a reluctance to replace some of the retiring humanities teachers and move into VET. If CMS in Alice Springs does go to completely VET and removes that humanities component, there will be fewer people going to uni, then you can see the future in CDU. If there are no kids in Alice going to uni apart from mature-aged students, it becomes quite an issue.
I also noticed within the statement comments about childcare subsidies. The minister also spoke recently about mobile preschools that go out into communities. Those mobile preschools are only good if people are actually turning up. I am aware of quite a number of staff who travel many hours to get out to communities to run mobile preschools, to find that no one actually turns up. The mobile preschool appears to be vacant, with no people, no students - a complete waste of time, effort, and money. That is reflective of a whole heap of things that we do in this industry in servicing and programs.
What makes it worse is you have assistants to these preschool teachers, and there are more assistants than there are preschool teachers who travel out there. The assistants often do not turn up for work, or they do turn up and there are no kids to put through the preschool. When there is, there are actually no facilitates for the preschool to be running, and they are out there sitting under a tree somewhere. You wonder how this preschool is actually working when the preschool teacher and the assistant do not have a table or a desk, there are no chairs for the kids, and there are no facilities, toys, or entertainment for the kids to actually participate in.
On page 11 of the statement, there are some ideas around the target 180 program and the shift in the time of the school holidays, and running alternate school sessions. While at the outset those appear to be very good ideas, and I hope they move well, I believe you have to look at different ways of doing things, particularly in a more modern age with technology, and with different seasonal opportunities in the Northern Territory. The Every Child, Every Day strategy, where kids are starting to get paid for turning up to school, is ridiculous. Parents already get paid to send their kids to school in many cases - whether that be through parenting payment, the dole or otherwise. It is the responsibility of every parent to send their kids to school. For government to be involved in the job of paying to send their kids to school, I find absolutely atrocious.
We should be looking at the punitive measures on the parents for when kids are not being sent to school, rather than rewarding parents for sending their kids to school. The reward is your child gets a good education and has a future in life. None of this ‘Let us give them $10 for turning up’. That is absolutely crazy. I am very keen to find out what is happening with the fines for parents who have not been sending their kids to school. There was the idea that there was a $200 fine for parents who did not send their kids to school, and not one fine has been issued in 10 years under this government. Now, they have moved to the fine model where it is $2000 and, as I understand from the shadow Education spokesperson, the member for Brennan, no one has been fined $2000 yet either. I believe it is way out of control to fine a parent $2000, because a parent is never going to be able to afford that in most instances. The $200 fine was fair and reasonable, and should have been applied on a frequent basis for parents who were not sending their kids to school.
All this huff and puff by the federal Labor government’s Jenny Macklin, the minister for Indigenous Affairs, and others, about welfare quarantining for parents who do not send their kids to school is all it is - huff and puff. It is like the discussion paper issued yesterday on income support reform in participation required through mutual obligation - it is just huff and puff. Nothing happens, nothing changes. In the six trial sites, barely anything has been done, and kids still are not attending. That is why we see in Budget Paper No 3 from this year, things like only 15% of Indigenous students attended over 80% of the time in the middle years education.
The figures for the Northern Territory are appalling and outrageous. That is why, in the Johnson report on page 14, it said:
Unless the Territory government is going to start applying those measures - and the federal government has a responsibility in this area too - in its delivery of education, it is not performing across a wide range of areas. That is why there was an intervention, because it was not doing its job - and it is still not doing its job.
What I found interesting in the Johnson review, when I looked through, particularly in education - let me say at the outset they identified about 232 Indigenous programs in particular, and there needs to be some rationalisation. I went through the education component and found there were 21 Commonwealth programs for early childhood. I went through the schooling and otherwise. I would not mind reading through some of these programs so people can start to understand how there is money going everywhere - and I will not go through the dollar value. However, with all the programs, everything that is offered, we still only have 15% of middle year school attendance for Indigenous kids. These are some of the programs:
Supporting Families - NTER (Northern Territory Emergency Intervention) crches.
My colleague, the member for Fong Lim, yesterday and last week, spoke about the findings from the Centre for Independent Study and how their analysis identified that about $100 000 is spent on remote Indigenous Australians every year. In a family of six - a mother and father and four kids – that is $600 000 every year that is spent trying to improve the social outcomes for those people. That $600 000 could buy you a nice little spot in Toorak in Melbourne, or Vaucluse in Sydney, or somewhere like that, and set people up with an opportunity to have greater access to services - recognising it is not just this year the family would get $600 000, next year they would get $600 000 too.
When you start to put in place the outcomes being achieved and the targets being set in the budget, what the Johnson report talks about with all the programs that are running, and the analysis by the Centre for Independent Studies, you start thinking if we are spending $600 000 a year on a family in a remote location, why are we not achieving anything?
The minister said on the back page of his statement that the opposition says it is all doom and gloom. When you look at the funding that goes into it, for the outcomes that are being achieved, there is a need for different things to be done. Moving into the model of a punitive approach for parents who do not send their kids to school is important because parents, in many instances, still are not doing that.
That is not to say we should not be looking at what is happening in the area of alcohol with family breakdown; how that is affecting kids going through the FACS system, how it is affecting kids who are not attending school. The SIHIP debate also comes into it because, if kids cannot get a good night’s sleep, they cannot go to school. If people are sleeping in humpies or under sheets of tin, how do you expect those kids to go to school?
In the FACS system of child protection, the kids get passed from one family to another family to another family because there is no permanency planning involved, the system has broken down, the staff are overworked, or there are not enough carers to come on board for a number of reasons. It is hard to get educational outcomes in that system. When parents are chronic alcohol or substance abusers, trying to get those people to take responsibility for sending their kids to school is very difficult.
We had a debate the other day with the minister for Corrections about putting all the prisoners back on the streets. Once they are on the streets, they are going to teach them how to drive so they will not be caught again. That is a problem because we are not addressing the issue of alcohol and substance abuse in the first place which could see kids get to school, which would not see people go into the gaol, or the Corrections system. I find that very difficult and things need to change in that area.
I would like the minister, in his response to the ministerial statement, to detail what his plans are for the outstanding 40-plus homeland learning centres to convert them to real schools. I am sure he will be able to do that. At the current rate we are going, things will never change. I recognise there have been a couple done, and it would be good if the minister could provide us with a solution. I congratulate places like Baniyala which is moving towards full school attendance and trying to solve the problems of their homeland. What they are doing is fantastic and I am looking forward to a visit soon to look at their economic approaches they are going to try to take forward into the future; how they want to move into a model of homeownership and self-determination where they control their country, not anyone else. That is a fantastic outcome. How education fits into that will be good to see.
I know they are doing a positive job and I congratulate Andy Butterwell and Mark Hughes and the Centre for Independent Studies who are doing a lot of work out there. That is very good. If homelands in other communities took that responsibility and ownership and had that empowerment to be able to do that, we would start to see greater outcomes.
I call on the Northern Land Council to speed up its efforts, or make some efforts, in providing a whole-of-township leasing back to the people who live at Baniyala, the traditional owners, so they can start providing those solutions for their future. The current bureaucratic approach and the correspondence between Jenny Macklin, the minister for Indigenous Affairs and the NLC means these people on the ground, who are on their own country, cannot get access to their own land with some sort of security of land tenure. It is a problem and the NLC should be lifting its game in trying to find solutions. They should not just be going for individual leases. They should be going to head leasing for the whole community, where they can take over a 99-year lease, similar to the ACT model, so they can then start to develop a market and an economy and see some positive changes into the future.
I recognise that the government has a long way to go to achieve educational outcomes in the Northern Territory. As the federal Cabinet Johnson report said, there is serious concern about the capacity of the Northern Territory government to actually achieve outcomes in education and housing.
Madam Speaker, I concur with that report and all of my colleagues on this side of the Chamber recognise the inadequacies and the failures of the Henderson Labor government. I know the minister for Education will try to make improvements. I have asked him to respond to some of those questions, particularly around the shelter at the bus stop at Braitling but, also, on the homeland learning centres. We will wait for his response.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise you of the presence in the gallery of Years 10, 11 and 12 Palmerston Senior College Japanese exchange students from Aridagawa, accompanied by Ms Jacqui Carroll, Mrs Fran Davies and Ms Reiko Kawai. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I am very proud to speak on this statement this afternoon because there is nothing more important for my government than to invest in education and see stronger education outcomes for all Territory kids. It is something we, on this side of the House, are passionate about, and is a subject we continue to work to reform and see significant investment into our education system.
The budget this year delivered a record $930m into our education system, just short of $1bn, a very significant commitment to education across the Northern Territory. The Leader of the Opposition and opposition members rant and rave about dollars and outcomes. In responding to this debate, if he feels we are not getting the outcomes for the investments then it would be good to see what parts of the investment the opposition would cut.
We also have an extra 407 teaching staff in our schools since 2001. That is a huge increase in our teaching staff, and children benefit through reductions in class sizes and extra specialist teachers that schools are able to put on as a result of the additional teaching staff increase.
The NAPLAN participation rates have improved by 14.5%. Why is that important? It was a big step forward taken in this nation to introduce compulsory testing for all students in this country in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 in literacy, numeracy and writing to ensure where schools and kids are falling behind, our system can reach out to assist those schools to improve, and also for parents to really have an understanding about how their child is going and engage in that serious conversation with schools and teachers about how their children can improve.
That has been a very important national reform not without controversy, particularly amongst teacher unions and principals’ associations. However, now the system is in place and understood, it appears to me that opposition is receding because the fears of teacher unions and principals’ associations that, somehow, governments and authorities would use that information to name and shame underperforming schools and teachers, has not occurred. What has occurred is a whole raft of policies through the COAG framework to assist underperforming schools, and there is very significant funding available to do that.
We can all identify underperforming schools against national benchmarks and standards, essentially by a postcode. Looking at income levels around postcodes, you can see where high-performing schools will be. The further the changes in incomes and other demographic indicators, then education attainment rates subside. This is particularly exacerbated in the Northern Territory by the tyranny of distance and very remote schools where we have historic and systemic lower attendance rates that I will talk about later. We have seen in the 2009 NAPLAN participation rates a 14.5% improvement above national average in three literacy areas that show we are heading in the right direction.
A total of 10 000 apprenticeships and traineeships commenced over a four-year period. Again, that is a very significant commitment to not only apprenticeships in school programs, but also the VET in Schools program that has been expanded and increased throughout our term of government. Schools really have embraced the VET agenda. We have seen the Australian government invest in trade training centres in our schools throughout the Northern Territory - every single one of those investments were opposed by those opposite - providing better facilities for our VET teachers to get better VET outcomes amongst our students.
We also saw last year the Northern Territory Certificate of Education become the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training, where VET qualifications are now assessed as part of a student attaining their Northern Territory Certificate of Education. Those VET courses and qualifications now count towards an NTCE, so kids can be kept at school longer, and kids who might not be the highest performing academic students are engaged. Those kids are engaged; they are keeping on at school until they turn 17, and they are leaving school with an NTCE and Year 12 qualification, as well as many kids have a Certificate I or a Certificate II qualification, sometimes even a Certificate III, in a VET area.
There were many other reforms over the period of this government. One that was really embraced by parents - and it is almost quite strange to think about a time when we did not have compulsory school uniforms. That now has been fully embraced across the Northern Territory. It is great to see the kids from Transition to Year 9 in school uniforms across the Northern Territory. As I said, it is hard to believe there was a time, not too long ago, when we did not have compulsory school uniforms. Other schools, even post-Year 9, require school uniforms. I pay particular credit to Taminmin College and Palmerston Senior College which made the decision that they were going to have compulsory school uniforms when they transitioned to a senior college from a high school this year. It is fantastic, and the kids I have spoken to at both of those schools certainly support that.
At the other end of the education system, we formed the Early Childhood Services Unit which is all about - and I know we led the way nationally, as a government, committing in our public schools system - a full year of schooling prior to Transition. That meant, in some instances, taking kids in as young as four, bringing them into the school environment and preparing them for that important Transition year through to Year 1. We are rolling that out across the Northern Territory in partnership with the Australian government. Mobile preschools and other initiatives such as Family as First Teachers Program in 18 remote communities and our Books in the Home program in 23 communities are all about having a conversation with families and young mums across the Territory about the importance of getting their children experienced in attending a structured environment leading into the Transition year of school. That is also about having parents embrace the school and being totally comfortable with school being a great place for their children.
These are very significant reforms and investments we have made to improve education outcomes. All of the research and the academic study in this area show that the more investment you put into early years, the greater outcomes we see later through a child’s education. It is better to put those investments in early, than try to recover those students and their learning pathways later in their education. We are proud of those reforms. Of course, as always, there is a long way to go.
One of the significant reforms that, as a parent, I have to say has been very worthwhile, has been the implementation of our middle schools program across the Northern Territory. Again, it was reform that was not without its controversial aspects, and was opposed by those members opposite. As the Chief Minister and former Education minister, and as a parent whose children have all either gone through or going through those middle years of schooling, I have been very impressed with the outcomes from that transition to middle years. As a parent, I have been very impressed with the support offered to children in those middle years of schooling where, tragically, we did see too many kids falling through the cracks and dropping out of senior school because they were very small fish in very big ponds. Those kids who wanted to fly and were committed to working were flying and doing well, but kids could become disengaged very quickly and fall through the cracks. The support that is provided around all those kids in those middle schools has meant there are fewer and fewer of those kids falling through the cracks.
That has also been supported through the investment in our Clontarf Football Academies and Sporting Chance Girls Academies, where those kids who were most at risk, being those Indigenous kids falling through those cracks in our urban centres as well as in the bush, are now fully engaged through those programs. Nine hundred young men and women students in middle schools and high schools are now enrolled and engaged at school, are going to school every day, and having the mentoring and support of staff of those academies. I am proud of our commitment and our investment because, of all the programs we see tuned towards attendance, this program seems to be the only one that is working well and consistently in getting kids to schools.
I like nothing better than visiting all of these academies and talking to these students, seeing how enthusiastic they are about their studies and the support they are getting. To everyone who is involved in the Clontarf Academies and the Sporting Chance Girls Academies, my heartfelt thanks and congratulations. You are changing the lives of these students. They will forever remember the time they spent with your guidance and care in getting them through school.
As I said earlier today, I am really looking forward to the end of this year when we have the opportunity to celebrate 120 kids from across the Northern Territory who have completed Year 12 as a result of Clontarf, who previously would have dropped out at 15. That is going to be a highlight at the end of the year I am really looking forward to.
We have also seen investment in parents in the $50 Back to School Bonus going to $75. This comes at the beginning of every school year in February. It is a time when everyone is pretty broke after the Christmas festivities and many families go away interstate. Everyone wants to do the best they can for their kids and families in presents at Christmas and the celebrations, so most people are pretty broke in February. That $75 for every child to assist with uniforms, school packs, is an investment in those kids and their education. We are very proud to be the government that introduced and extended that bonus that goes to all parents across the Northern Territory, no matter how remote the school is.
We have also introduced free bus services for Territory students, again trying to manage costs for parents in their education journeys. The electronic student profile, which is a system I was very keen on when I was Education minister, allows parents to have access to their child’s electronic profile and their attendance register, what is being set in assignments, when those assignments are due, and what homework has been set, and when it is due. Giving parents access to that information that can sometimes be pretty hard to extract from a teenage child, is all about empowering that conversation around the importance of education, and understanding what your children are doing at school. That system is being rolled out. There is still a way to go, but we are on the path.
I congratulate and talk about our government’s support for non-government schools in the Northern Territory because they are an important part of delivering education for our kids, both in our urban centres and our schools. As a government, we provide more assistance to the non-government schools in the Territory than any other government. That is largely because all of our non-government schools in the Territory - to use a turn of phrase - are not Ivy League schools. They are not bank rolled by institutional investment from well-off families and philanthropic donations we see for some of those Ivy League schools down south. Essentially, they are through the Catholic sector, the Christian school sector, the Lutheran school sector, other non-government service providers, or independent schools such as Essington. None of those schools is bank rolled by significant institutional funding to support them, so we do what we can with the funding that is available within our budget.
In rolling out the middle schools’ program, we provided much-needed capital investment for some of those schools, such as O’Loughlin College and the Lutheran school in Howard Springs. There are other schools that I cannot recall which received significant capital funding from the Territory government, and a number of other schools see significant ongoing capital funding and interest rate rebates.
We would always like to do more for all of our schools, but there is no ideological divide on this side of the House, as I know there is not on the other side of the House. I support parents’ right to choose and we, as a government, do what we can to support our non-government schools in the same way that we do everything we can to support our government schools. I do not believe it is a case of either/or; it is the case that if you support education then, obviously, the primary commitment is to the public system - that is what we are required to do. However, where we can, we provide significant support and have good relationships with the non-government sector.
During this term of government, we have doubled, over four years, the amount of money that any government in the Territory has put into infrastructure. That has been well received right across the Northern Territory - building new schools, upgrading schools, and every primary and group school in the Territory being allocated $300 000 for works of their choosing around the school. Many of our schools in the Territory are getting to the 30 years of age mark and need an upgrade, and they have certainly received that over the last four years with Territory government funding and the BER funding that has been so important.
The initial funding that was rolled out to improve those schools provided for schools to be repainted and playground equipment in schools. They were small grants that hit the ground early and, then, the bigger grants were provided for new classrooms, trade training centres, libraries, and sporting facilities. It has been an absolute thrill to travel around the Territory and see all of these schools, whether they are in a remote town or right here in Darwin at Larrakeyah Primary School where I was yesterday. All of these schools have received significant upgrades and, for the life of me, I cannot understand why the opposition and Tony Abbott opposed that program so vociferously and continues to do so until today, calling it a total waste of money and a rort.
I heard some Coalition spokesperson the other day saying it was money invested in infrastructure that would not have an economic return. What a doofus, Madam Speaker. I do not know who that member was, but what a doofus. Saying that investing in schools does not provide an economic return - what a doofus! To think that those people opposite associate with people like that who believe we should not invest in our schools; it is a rort, a waste of money, and does not provide an economic return. I cannot think of a better economic return for our nation than investing in education - and a world-class education system. You cannot have a world-class education system without world-class facilities for teachers and students.
I am committed to our Every Child, Every Day strategy. It is probably one of the most important initiatives my government has introduced; I am in regular conversation with both the minister and the Chief Executive of that department as to the implementation of that strategy, and to ensure those sanctions ...
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the Chief Minister be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, parliamentary colleagues. I will be fairly brief.
In regard to our education system in the Northern Territory and Every Child, Every Day, I have regular conversations with the minister and the Chief Executive about the sanctions being applied to parents whose kids do not attend on a regular basis. I am pleased to hear a significant number of compulsory conferences have now been held across the Territory and, as a result, many of the kids who were not going to school are now attending school. Unfortunately, we have seen a number of fines issued as well.
I can also say, working with minister Macklin on failure to attend school and neglect of children, we have a significant number of families across the Territory who now have 70% of their income quarantined as a result of kids not attending school on a regular basis.
Those are the sticks that, unfortunately, have to be used. All of us understand carrots are much better to engage students than sticks. If kids want to go to school, they are going to do somewhat better than kids who are forced to go to school every day and do not want to be there. However, we have to have the carrots and the sticks, and toughen up on families who do not send their kids to school regularly, and those are being applied. It is important to apply those standards and requirements to ensure kids go to school.
I am proud of our teachers and principals in the Territory. I have said before that one of the highlights of my year as the previous Education minister, and Chief Minister, was the annual Board of Studies presentation night at Parliament House - I know colleagues attend the one in Alice Springs - where the top 20 Year 12 best and brightest Territory students are awarded; the highest achieving students awards in various categories. It is one of the best functions in the year to attend and see these kids who have achieved marks right up amongst the best in the nation.
On a couple of occasions, we have had students with a TER of 100. On every occasion, students with more than a 98 or 99 TER have done their entire education in the Territory, both in the government and non-government sector, and can virtually walk into any university in Australia, or the world, with a TER which has been achieved at the highest levels in the Territory. That is all down to our principals, our teachers, leadership in the schools, parents. It goes to show we have a world-class education system in the Territory if people work hard and avail themselves of it. I look forward to attending many more Board of Studies presentation awards.
In conclusion, I promise Territorians that if your child goes to school every day and, as a parent, you are engaged with your children’s education, then your kid will achieve to the same extent as kids around Australia. It is all about getting your kid to school every day and, as a parent, supporting the children through their educational journey, being engaged in that educational journey, and being engaged with the schools your children are attending.
We all have our dramas and crises as parents around education. Every now and then you find a teacher who is probably not the best in the world who has your kids; that is life. You cannot have perfection every step of the way. By and large, if kids do go to school, if parents are engaged and committed to their education, kids will achieve here, they do achieve here, and the best of our kids are amongst the best in the world.
Madam Speaker, I commend the statement to the House.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, in responding to this statement, I do so acknowledging hard-working teachers across the Northern Territory, whether they are in the government sector, the non-government sector, working in urban schools, or in remote schools. I also acknowledge the contribution made by parents, particularly those who serve on school councils to support what occurs at the local school level. I acknowledge, in particular, Indigenous families who are actively engaged and involved in interaction with the Education department to ensure, as far as possible, their needs are being heard, understood, and responded to.
A statement about education can be delivered, which talks about all the good things that are occurring - and there is plenty of good that is occurring. However, there are aspects of the education debate that need to be considered if we want to improve the quality of the education system, and the delivery of education to our young people. We need to get down to the point of it and be very honest. Yes, there are kids who are doing very well in the Northern Territory. They would do well in any system, anywhere, no matter what approach was taken and what reforms had been put in place. No matter what kind of programs you run, there will always be kids who will rise to the top. That really is not the issue. The issue is there are kids who are in the middle and the tail of our academic performance levels we really need to respond to. We have to respond to those who are not achieving at the levels they could achieve.
In starting a response, we need to acknowledge the reforms of the past were largely about changing the structure of education. It was about buildings, in having a different model and creating a middle school. That was about buildings. Called an education reform, it was about a change to the way in which education was configured. It was about timetables and buses - how you would alter the bus routes to get the kids to the schools. All of that was wrapped up and called an ‘education reform’.
The fact is, in this Chamber, the then minister for Education, Mr Stirling, when we were embarking on the reform into secondary education which gave rise to the creation of middle schools, said this will fail if we do not see - I will paraphrase, but the words are there - an improvement in education outcomes, the results of all our efforts. He basically assured us we would see improved academic results flowing from the restructure of secondary education. We waited, and we still have not seen the dramatic improvement that was promised by this reform.
My comments are all the way through this. Though the Chief Minister now has feigned concern the opposition opposed such things - we did not. If he had the ears to hear, he would have known we were not opposing. There were aspects of the implementation of these reforms that were problematic, because they were largely focused on physical things and not on education itself.
A true reform in education is a reform around the curriculum; that is, what is taught, and those who teach; that is, the teacher. It is the curriculum and the teachers. If you want to have a reform in education, you work in that space. To dress it up with a restructure of the buildings, the timetables, buses, and things like that, and badge that as a reform – it is not actually a real reform of education. That is a reform of education programs and how you deliver education, but not education itself. You could go into a place and ask a question: ‘How could we deliver education in a manner that produces better results and better equips our young people to participate in the opportunities in the Northern Territory?’
Not foreshadowing a debate, but there will be discussion in this Chamber a little later about the high levels of youth suicides in the Northern Territory. I see a connection between the capacity to deliver a quality education to those who are aspiring to be a part of the great story of the Northern Territory, and those who feel they do not get that and fall out of the system. You cannot just say fall through the cracks when you look at the numbers in the Territory.
It is those we need to focus on – the teachers first. Part of last year and the year before, I had a wonderful period of time when I visited more than 20 schools, and I walked away impressed with what I saw in those schools. The teachers were all very conversant with the decisions they had made about the teaching programs in their schools. There was a level professionalism that was, frankly, impressive. There was energy in all those schools. I did not miss any schools, I was not selective. There are still some schools, particularly non-government schools I have not visited. I would like to continue to do so, but there are many things we would like to do. Visiting over 20 schools, particularly in Darwin and the northern suburbs, I came away impressed with quality of our teaching profession.
What I did observe, though, was that in the number of programs that are being run in those schools - around literacy and numeracy in particular which caught my attention - there seems to be a great diversity - perhaps a bewildering diversity - of literacy and numeracy programs, particularly literacy. There seemed to be any number of different approaches being taken in different schools. I accept local schools can make their own decisions, but it appears to me to be waste of effort and energy to invest in the training of teachers to implement a particular program chosen by that particular school, when, if they go to another school, they then have to reinvest and re-jig. There is a great deal of effort that is put into that.
The Ladwig and Sarra report into the Education department and the system of education in the Northern Territory spoke of the levels of confusion and disfunctionality in the support around those teachers. I say it is necessary that there needs to be that level of leadership shown by the department to provide that coherent support around the types of programs that are run in the schools, because there is no deficiency in the capacity, motivation and professionalism of our teachers. There is much effort being put in that should not be put into the adapting to new programs that each school seems to have. There were any number of programs - and I will not list them - from First Steps and all the way through.
There seemed to be an enthusiastic person at school X who liked Letter Land and got everyone doing Letter Land. Then, the person goes to another school and it might be First Steps, where they think this is a First Steps school, that is the one. Then, there was Accelerated Literacy at another one. There are teachers who move and they think: ‘I have to start all over again’. Sometimes, they can switch off.
On that front, I believe we need to have a rethink about the curriculum. Take a leaf out of Singapore’s book. Singapore took an objective assessment of its own academic performance. I have been doing more work on this and there will be people listening and thinking: ‘All right, let us have a look at this’. I believe you should; there is an example that needs to be investigated. In Singapore, they noted when they had the international assessment of literacy and numeracy and science, that Singapore was slipping, particularly in maths. They thought: ‘What should we do?’ The Labor government would say: ‘We will just spend more money and give statements in parliament and reassure everyone that they are doing a very good job, just like Mr Grace in Are You Being Served – you are all doing very well’.
The Singapore government - I need to investigate this further; all I have read gives me cause for a need to investigate this further - noted there was slippage. The results were not improving. What did they do? They did a complete overhaul of the curriculum in maths ...
A member: Not a committee?
Mr MILLS: No, they actually re-jigged it, and have now put together a curriculum that has been in place for about five years. Because they took an objective assessment, they did not see this - from what I could see – as an issue about the government or the minister; it was an issue about the government doing its job, which is making sure there is an appropriate curriculum in place that delivers the results and then resource the teachers.
What they found was there were significant improvements. Now, Singapore has made real and measureable gains that have attracted the attention of people who are interested in curriculum design. There are other countries now saying: ‘Let us have a look at this curriculum’. It is achieving the results.
I will hazard this - and I do not think it is of great risk - that the kids in the Singapore system - using this as a case study - are not smarter now than they were five years ago. I hazard they are the same; basically, the same kids. I also hazard the teachers five years ago were working just as hard as they are now. I also hazard the Singapore government, though investing in curriculum redesign may have spent some money, but I do not think they would have spent prodigious amounts of money to try to create some kind of difference without actually changing the system. They, obviously, would have spent some money. What they got by a change to the curriculum was no change to the kids themselves or the capacity and the professionalism of teachers, but significantly improved results. This is something that should be looked at.
It supports the argument I have run in this place and in the community for a number of years: reforms in education are about the curriculum and the capacity and professionalism of, and support for, teachers - not about buildings, timetables, buses, brochures, and just spending money. The Chief Minister’s pet - they must have their own little strategy meetings up there and say this. The member for Daly obviously attends them. He is being a bit too enthusiastic, losing a bit of credibility like a bad actor, saying we are against everything …
A member: A bad actor, the current member for Daly.
Mr MILLS: That is right. … that we came out and we opposed all that spending in the schools. Just calm down, just calm down. What we were asking was recognising you are actually spending real money and you are spending it on something that is to produce a very specific result. The result, yes, in a school, is to produce what? Better education results! It is to support the enterprise of education.
We get this confusing, feel-good thinking from our colleagues opposite who believe no one is really responsible - education is more about entertainment than actual education and learning; you have to make the kids really like school. It is more about carrots than sticks is what they say. What they are actually saying is: ‘You just have to reward kids - if you just spend enough money. Perhaps a skate park at the school will make all the kids like school, and they will all go to school and be very happy in the morning because they cannot wait to go because the school has a skate park!’
I have asked my kids certain questions – what would you prefer, this or that? I know what answer I will get depending on the question I am going to ask. ‘Would you like to go to Kentucky Fried Chicken or would you like dad to cook tea?’ ‘We will go to KFC thanks, dad’. You know what type of question you are going to ask kids.
You have to sometimes, as adults, as grown-ups, because we have been around the track, make a decision about what is best for those kids, about the money entrusted to you to be invested in something that is going to produce - not a political result so you can trump it forever and a day that you have done something fantastic and those blokes on the other side are real bad people. That is dumb! You had money. We had the necessary position of asking the question about this: are you getting a result for that investment?
I am sure that discussion goes on in your own household. If you have money and you are going to invest it, someone in your household is going to say: ‘Hang on. Is that a good investment or not? How dare you oppose my decision to spend money!’ You do not have that discussion in your own household. This is parliament; this is a representation of the community. We ask questions. However, asking a question is real bad because we are against it. The poor member for Daly needs to go to Corrugated Iron Theatre to improve his acting performance because it is - perhaps I should not make that suggestion; continue on, it is quite entertaining.
Another aspect of education I believe needs to be carefully considered - and I am pleased the Chief Minister has acknowledged it – is the government and the non-government sectors. For too long, I heard this Labor government talking about education. The minister was more the minister for the Department of Education and less the minister for Education. By recognising that which occurs in the whole enterprise in non-government and government, urban and remote, you have to recognise the important link between the home and the school is an essential part of education.
The minister would be aware, no doubt, with whoever has his ear and is running these defences against certain allegations that have been made regarding the quite sincere aspirations of Indigenous communities exploring options of being more directly involved in the decisions about the education of their children. Hear what I am saying. In the case of Baniyala, which the minister cited on a number of occasions, yes, I acknowledge, as would the community, you have provided them with some quality infrastructure ...
Dr Burns: And staff.
Mr MILLS: I am going there. The staff are very impressive. It is a wonderful community. Without discrediting or devaluing the investment in the infrastructure - that is fine, that is great - the teachers there are of quality. That is a wonderful and very valuable investment in that community. Unfortunately, I have forgotten their names, but one used to be the principal at Moulden Park School ...
Dr Burns: Pat Ellis.
Mr MILLS: Pat and his wife; a wonderful couple. All those things aside - but acknowledged; no devaluing of those at all - the essential element I am referring to is that community asked for more direct involvement in the decisions around the education delivery in their school. They said they wanted to have greater control. All these good things were given, and I understand they said: ‘Yes, but we still want to run our own school’. That request is a very important one that cannot be overlooked by the giving of other things which are related to, but not essential or not central to the question: ‘Can we be more actively involved?’ You may muster all your arguments around the assertion and observation I have just made ...
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker. I move an extension of time for the member for Blain to complete his remarks pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I broaden that situation, about which I am sure there is going to be a response. You are required, nonetheless, to respond to the very same question that is being formed in the minds of families in remote communities - from up in the islands all the way across and down the Centre and across to the east and the west. It is already a question that has been formed in communities in Western Australia. It is something that will not go away.
Families, particularly those remote from the centre of education - which really appears many times to be in the Mitchell Centre – are the centre of education. It is in the family home supported by the school. There are families, particularly Indigenous families, calling out for a greater engagement. That is a space we need to walk into and, I tell you, it is a space I am prepared to go, because that is my background in education. You have to genuinely walk with that family because the family, the parent, has the responsibility to raise and educate that child with the support of the Education department. The Education department is not the one that is responsible; they are responsible for supporting that family.
The issue is the further you go from the centre. You see it at the chalk face too, or the SMART board face, where the teacher who is in front of those kids is the one who should be receiving very genuine, thoughtful, ever-present support - right there!. They are not servants of the department; the department should be servicing those who are actually working for the family.
There is something happening out there under the radar, minister - I hope you are aware of it - which is going to require a response. I have been watching that space for some time. I am prepared to go there because I understand the centre of education is with the family, and to strengthen that capacity will give us the gains. I have already mentioned it is around curriculum and the shape of that curriculum. That needs to be revisited. There are plenty of examples of that, and we cannot resist that any further, and we cannot tinker around the edges.
Finally, in education delivery, there is concern about the behaviour of students. There needs to be an effective and meaningful response to poor behaviour in classrooms that cannot be ambiguous, as it is. You can run back and say: ‘Oh, yes, but under 27 years of the Country Liberal Party, the minister did not fine any parent for not sending their kids to school. So, there you go, we do not have to answer that’. That does not wash. If it was not right then, it is not right now. There are good families, particularly in some of these more challenged communities, who, at great sacrifice, are sending their kids to school. There are those who could not care a hoot about that and do not accept the essential responsibility they have. They are waiting for leadership shown from government, from the minister, to impose a meaningful consequence on those who do not accept that responsibility.
What does it do? ‘Oh, those poor people, they probably have an excuse’. They probably have, but what about the good ones who send their kids to school? They need to be encouraged by an action such as that; it sends a very good and positive message. That is the best way to change behaviour. You know that makes sense: you have to reward those who are doing the right thing and not provide a reward for those who could not care a hoot about proper standards, particularly around the fundamental of sending your kid to school. If you are serious about it, you have to move into that space.
Regarding student behaviour, how appalling it is to send a message that if a kid mucks up, treats teachers and all their colleagues with disrespect - after all the assets that have been sent to try to correct behaviour - if we just spend more money, then perhaps they will come to their senses? For goodness sake! At the school level, it gets to the point where you are going to have to suspend a kid to send some kind of message. What happens when a kid is suspended? In the frustration of having to deal with that, you suspend a child from the school, and you consign all those kids who have been suspended to wander around the community; wander around Palmerston shops or go to Casuarina at any time. I stop and ask those kids what they are you doing there. ‘Oh, I have been suspended’. It is like a reward.
If I was trying to send a clear message to my kids because they did something such as being very rude to my wife, their mother – if I said: ‘If you do that again then I am going to - what? - make sure you sit in front of the television and watch anything you like until you come to your senses’. It does not work! We need to suspend kids whose behaviour is inappropriate and eroding the central enterprise of education - suspend them from there to a place where the issue will be properly dealt with.
We have to take this much more seriously than we have. It has been a pretty slack and lazy approach for a long time where you send these messages that are meaningless, no behaviour is challenged, no good standards are reinforced, and you are constantly appealing to the goodwill of parents - those who want to do the right thing. They do not seem to be rewarded; they do not get backed up. But the other ones who are falling through the cracks, we seem to rush there and spend ever-increasing amounts of money on those who treat the whole system with contempt, could not care a hoot about it. There are no consequences because we have to have more carrots than sticks, which is code – from the Labor side – to say: ‘No stick, because no one is responsible; just carrots, and then their behaviour will change. Give kids lollies and then they will get better’. Rubbish! ‘You know it is good for you’. ‘But I do not want it!’ ‘You know it is good for you’. You might hurt their self-esteem. Well, what about all the others who are in need of some clear guidance? They become discouraged and confused, and there are no standards.
I tell you and you know this – and there are kids who will tell you this, and you would have observed it, if you just think about it - the teacher who runs a really tight ship, who has clear standards, where the kids do not mess around; deep down - the kids will want to be in that class. They do not want to be in the laissez faire class where everyone is running amok and talking over the top of each other and it is chaos; everyone is called by their first name, and call the teacher by their first name; everyone is having a great old time, and sing songs at the drop of a hat. They do not know their tables. But, why do they really need those tables, when they have whatever? It is quite entertaining and it is really nice and good fun, it is colourful, a lot of art, and all this sort of stuff.
Then, next door, you have this class where the teacher has the kids sitting up straight, the kids are very concerned about being late for class, they do their homework, they keep tidy, they do not interrupt in class, they behave very well; it is pretty tough in there. Halfway through that year, I bet if you ask the kids which class they would prefer to be in, I guarantee you they would want to be in the one where there is structure and reward for effort. They want that; kids are crying out for it. For too long you have spent money in other places to try to entertain them and said: ‘If we only had more entertaining and interesting programs at the school then all the kids would like education and the results would improve’.
That is nonsense! It is an experiment that has failed. It is not for the fainthearted to go in this space. You have had 10 years of it. We are going to have to turn this around for the sake of trying to have some genuine investment which produces real results and challenges behaviour; rewards those who do the right thing and gets people to move others to move from where they are to where they should be.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I conclude as I started. I acknowledge our kids are fine kids and, no matter what system they are in, many of our kids will achieve. However, they are not the ones of concern; it is the ones in the middle and those who are finding it difficult to achieve, and the debate we have later reflects on those.
Our teachers are professional and hard-working, but I believe it is the role of government to provide proper support and a proper assessment of curriculum and policy to ensure implementation which produces real results in education; that is, a real reform in education. What we have had so far is not, essentially, an education reform, it has just been a changing of the way in which education is delivered. There has been no essential change to education itself, which is curriculum, and teachers, those who teach that curriculum.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I took a great interest in what the member for Blain spoke about. In fact, I believe you can see some of what he said in some of the independent schools. I am not saying they are any better than the government schools. I have a new school in my electorate, the Good Shepherd Lutheran College, and it is now attracting about 45% of students from the rural area. Why are people going there who are not Lutheran? This is the case with Catholic schools and Kormilda because there is a different approach. At the Good Shepherd Lutheran School, there is a desire by the school for higher education; that is, education is seen as extremely important along with some belief structure, which is important. Also, there is a feeling that there is an element of discipline amongst both teachers and students in that school, and they are all going towards a particular goal.
I have been to an assembly there recently - I go to assemblies as often as I can - and I am not trying to diminish any other schools, but I felt that school had something that most other schools did not have. That school had a real drive to want the students to achieve. They wanted every person in that school to achieve. I got a feeling the students also wanted to belong to that school for that very reason. There are ways of doing things, and perhaps there is more flexibility in the independent sector than there is in the government sector. Perhaps it is time the government sector looked at some of what happens in the independent sector and took that as a role model.
I have a few issues I would like to raise. I have no argument with the government when it said that education is the key; the vehicle that can deliver social, cultural, and economic development. It is essential to safer, longer, and better life and a stable, strong, and growing society in our economy. I do not think anyone would disagree with that, but there are a number of issues that need to be raised, and have been raised in this parliament a number of times.
The government has talked about improving the numbers of children attending schools. I believe there should be a stricter approach to making sure children are required to attend school by fining parents, and by having one-on-one meetings with parents. The Chief Minister has said now that 70% of social security benefits are quarantined for those parents who do not send their kids to school is a good thing. On the other side of that equation is you can send kids to school, but will they learn when they are there? Will they be attentive, or will they just be a nuisance? If kids have not been to school for a long time - as I learnt on one of my trips to Galiwinku, where you have a large cohort of children who should be at school; it is roughly half to a third who attend regularly. Then, there is a group who attend some of the time, and a group who hardly attend at all.
What happens with that sort of attendance is the kids who turn up for school regularly have problems learning because there are children who come into those classes who are behind, or simply not used to the classroom atmosphere and not willing to sit still or become part of the team. You can get kids to school; the real question we have to ask is: has there been an increase or improvement in literacy, numeracy, reading and writing for those children who are now attending schools? Attendance is not education. It is the learning and the knowledge that will change the chance of Aboriginal people - because that is mainly where these issues are in the Northern Territory - getting a better job in society.
I have a number of issues I would like to raise. One is special education. The minister would know that my office has been talking to the minister’s office about the construction of Nemarluk School. We have raised concerns about the design of that school and whether it meets best practice. I know that school is still going ahead, and one is not asking for the government to close that school down. The reality is the government is also looking at building a new special needs education facility at Palmerston. I ask the question while I am here whether that Palmerston education special needs facility is on target? I have heard there might be a need for more money for Nemarluk School which means the Palmerston special needs school may be set back to another budget.
The concern we have is if there have been some best practice issues for budget reasons, or whatever reason, included in the design of Nemarluk I am asking the department to look at ensuring those failings in the design are not included in the Palmerston special needs education facility.
The other issue is in relation to special needs funding at some of our schools. I had a meeting last year in relation to some of the special needs funding. After meeting with some of the parents and people from the school council, it was a concern there was a move by the department to come down on some of the school staff, which I thought totally unfair. The school, which I will not name, had concerns that in 2010 they had 135 students requiring support and were funded for around $300 000. This year, they have the same number of students but are only funded to around $95 000. DET will say it has implemented a better system which addresses the needs of the students. I am hearing from parents that this is not the case. Parents from a range of rural schools met in my office - parents with special needs kids, and parents of kids without special needs, and they discussed the cut in funding.
Another concern is that now we have principals on contract it is much harder for them to criticise the department because some of them fear that could cost them their job. I have always hoped I could freely speak to principals and gain information about schools and policies because, if I am not able to do that as a local member, I certainly will not be able to get the real information from the department.
I need to know what is going on in a particular school on the ground and what the issues are. It is concerning because, at one stage when I raised issues, the previous Principal of Taminmin College was phoned by the department wanting to know what was going on. I have always believed the local member should be able to talk freely with the principal because I regard them similar to a CEO. You should be able to contact those people and get answers about issues, and principals should be entitled to let you know if there are problems. We can use school councils of course; however, school principals should be entitled to use local members where there are issues they feel need to be raised.
The issues around Taminmin College are important. The member for Goyder has put on the Notice Paper discussion about lack of services in the rural area. This is a problem for the rural area and is highlighted by the fact Taminmin does not appear to get the same funding as other schools in the Darwin region. Taminmin is nearly 30 years old. In 2008, middle schooling was introduced and Taminmin was allocated $4.6m in 2007-08 capital works for new classroom facilities to support the implementation of middle years schooling. Taminmin has doubled in size since middle school and the 17-year-old leaving age was introduced; it went from 600 to nearly 1200 students. My understanding is Taminmin College is the biggest high school in the Northern Territory.
You need to put this into perspective. Taminmin received $4.6m and doubled in size. In comparison, a new purpose-built campus for Darwin Middle School was built at a cost of $25m. Enrolment in 2009 was 609 students, nearly half the number of students at Taminmin. The new Rosebery Middle and Primary School was built at a cost of $59m and has 1450 students - that is two schools. The Nhulunbuy High School has an enrolment of 284 and received $3.18m for middle year education and $2.6m for senior secondary education. Tennant Creek High School, in 2009 had an enrolment of 240 students and received $6.6m. Here you have the biggest high school in the Northern Territory receiving a paltry $4.6m. If anyone has been to that school, they will realise it has been developed so quickly and, to some extent, so haphazardly it is a school that is going to run into trouble if something is not done and there is not adequate spending to bring that school up to the standard of other schools in the Northern Territory.
That is why I am interested in what the member for Goyder is going to say about the lack of services. No one is unhappy about getting $4.6m, but if you were to compare it with what has been given to other schools, then the government really needs to look at its financial costings for this rural school and reconsider where it is going.
I also should mention there were 26 minor new work applications submitted over the past 12 years, and Taminmin received approval for nine. There are now major infrastructure problems, including the science laboratories not meeting OHS standards.
Taminmin College is a great college; there is no doubt about it. If you go there now, I must admit the front entrance looks No 1. It is what is behind the entrance that is of concern. When you have that large number of kids, then you have to ensure they have adequate and well-funded facilities. I believe the government really has to reinvest in that great college because not only is it a standard middle and secondary high school, it is a VET college with mechanics, agriculture and, I think, the certificate in stable work.
It has a range of other courses many other schools do not have. It has its great Japanese exchange student program - they were here yesterday - something that has been going on for a number of years. It serves the entire rural area; there is no other high school in the rural area. I hope the government is seriously considering the building of another high school, perhaps in Weddell - without having to wait for Weddell’s designs to be finished - because there is a need. As places such as Dundee, Adelaide River, and the southern part of the Litchfield Shire continue to grow, there is going to be a need for a new high school. Taminmin is full and, as far as I know, many students now have to go to Palmerston. If all the students who went to other schools in the rural area were told they had to go to Taminmin, we would have people sitting on the street because other schools like O’Loughlin, Kormilda, St John’s, Palmerston, the Good Shepherd Lutheran, and Marrara Christian College take a substantial number of students from the rural area as well. If they were not able to go there, Taminmin would be overflowing with young people. The government has to reinvest in Taminmin and seriously look at planning now, as soon as possible, for a new high school.
In relation to some of the Indigenous issues in education, there was an interesting article by David Cornish recently. He reported a federal Senate inquiry into Indigenous ear health problems that young Indigenous people have to cope with. These issues have been around for some time. Anyone who has taught in a school where Indigenous children have come into their classroom, especially out bush, have wondered from time to time why their student is not listening, and thinking they are just being naughty and misbehaving. In many cases, it is because some of these young people have an ear problem and simply cannot hear. A teacher in a bush school found that 90% of her Indigenous students had no ear drums. The percentage of adult Aboriginals in the Darwin Correctional Centre with a hearing impairment is around 90%. Viral infection in infancy causes the condition known as glue ear, and it attacks Indigenous infants within weeks of birth. It affects development of speech and, if untreated, can lead to permanent hearing loss.
A former Principal of Lajamanu School found that because 95 of the students had glue ear, it was virtually impossible for them to learn in a foreign language. An audiologist said if you cannot hear, you may do two things: you may daydream in the corner because your thoughts are going to be more interesting than whatever the teacher is rabbiting on about, or you are going to act up and poke and prod your friends so they cannot learn either. Children can get hearing aids for free from government, but installing a sound field amplification system in classrooms with a larger number of Indigenous students is cheaper and less stigmatising than providing hearing aids for students.
During the Senate inquiry, it was identified that training teachers in effective teaching strategies for hearing-impaired students is crucial. Evidence showed just half-an-hour is spent on hearing loss in the two-week induction program for new teachers in the Territory. An Indigenous health worker said knowing about his hearing loss helped him realise he was not as dumb as he thought.
There is a good news story at Jabiru. Brustolin Builders - I know the manager, Mark Brustolin, quite well - is constructing a 25-bed boarding school in Jabiru for the traditional owners because they recognise the importance to get students a good education and, sometimes, that means removing them from the community. Mr Brustolin is personally undertaking to train a young Aboriginal man on the construction site. He has had to push through some issues, but Royce - that is the name of the young fellow - is now working five days a week, boarding on-site with construction workers, and completing two to three hours per day learning in a specially built classroom in the construction workers village. That is a really good new story. There were four Aboriginal young men who started. They all gave up for a while, and I think Mark got with some of the traditional owners and spoke to this young fellow, and he came back on the job and stayed on the job. He is a good role model.
It is hard, sometimes, in these communities to stick with it - the tall poppy syndrome, the shame job sometimes comes into it, and there are other attractions. However, this young fellow has stayed with it. I congratulate Mark Brustolin for making that effort, just for that one Aboriginal person to become a trained construction person at Jabiru. It is great.
We hear much about education in the Northern Territory and there has been much talk about getting kids away from their communities and getting them into boarding school. This is an example of traditional owners doing exactly that. Noel Pearson has said if we do not get kids away from their environment we do not have a fair chance of getting them educated. This is, in some ways, a small start to something which should be a bigger goal for the department of Education and other private or independent schools as well.
There are a couple of good stories. There is much talk about the BER today, but the BER criticism should have been aimed down south, certainly in places like New South Wales where it was not good, as there was a lot of wastage. I have spoken to many of the schools here. I cannot say they are absolutely happy as they would have liked to have had a bit more say. There was one group of funding where they did have a say, and I have forgotten the name of that program. However, it was the second group of funding where the department had much more say. I have not run into anyone who has said this is terrible.
I went to Humpty Doo Primary School recently. They have the biggest covering over their basketball courts, and they are rapt. They have also improved the assembly area. St Francis of Assisi just got new classrooms. That school is expanding as it never was before. Girraween Primary School has doubled the size of its preschool. They were full. In the case of the Litchfield Christian School, they have a brand new library ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move the member be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good Shepherd Lutheran School has brand new language classrooms. Howard Springs Primary School has new classrooms. Their classrooms had white ants in them and were nearly an OHS issue and now they have a classroom to replace that. There had not been any new classrooms at Howard Springs Primary School for about 20 years, so they welcomed that. Bees Creek Primary School got special education classrooms and a library extension.
The only other school I should mention was Taminmin, which got a car park. That was not as good as the others, but I am trying to look at this from a practical perspective. All those schools I have been to have been very grateful for those improvements.
I know this is politics but, for me, when I have read a great deal about this, it seems in some states there was far more wastage than in other states. I am not sure the Territory can be put in that basket. I am not saying everything was perfect, but those schools have had benefits. I have been out, believe it or not - I do not want to say this again - to many communities. I saw the new hall at Alpurrurulam from a BER project. There are many smaller schools that probably would not have received some of this infrastructure if it was not for BER. It is important that we keep some perspective on this because, in many cases, schools would never have received that boost to their infrastructure if this program had not happened.
You have to remember there were benefits to local businesses. The people I saw putting up the BER project were all local contractors. They are still building some of them, such as the Humpty Doo basketball court cover. They believe it was a good project.
An issue that concerned me, which was raised on my trip, is about sporting carnivals. I do not think it is so much an issue in the Top End, but it is an issue in Central Australia. It is something that the department of Education, the communities, the councils, and others have to sit down together and get serious about. I ran into this issue when I went to a cattle station. The owner of the cattle station at Mt Riddick said to me: ‘We thought we had an agreement there would only be a certain number of carnivals, and they would only be on Saturday and Sunday’. I do not know who made that agreement, but the agreement does not seem to hold much water. What is happening, from the cattleman’s point of view is, if he is going to have a muster, he books the helicopter on Monday. He gets a phone call saying: ‘Sorry boss, we are coming back from the footy carnival, and we will not be there until Tuesday’. Meanwhile, the helicopter sits on the ground at I do not know how many thousands of dollars an hour - not too impressed.
If that is happening with those people, imagine what is happening with schools. Schools are empty, and that is not good. The Alpurrurulam School has an agreement with the department of Education that when they go to the Mount Isa Rodeo, they can use the two weeks they take off to go there as their holidays. They shift the term around and, when normal holidays come, that is when they are at school. Perhaps we have to start looking at ways we either come up with an agreement there is going to be limited numbers of sporting carnivals, which are only going to be on Saturday and Sunday, and children have to be back at school. Or, you change the year around so those days that are missed are picked up when the holidays are on. It is important because days missed at school are never recovered. That is something that has to be dealt with.
An area that concerns me - and I am interested in the minister’s response – is the Exodus Foundation. I gather the government has not given them any more funding. They have seen me over the years. I have a bit of a conflict of interest as my granddaughter, who got behind in her English, has been doing that Exodus Foundation course at Sacred Heart, Palmerston. I sometimes wonder if the simplest programs are the best programs because the Exodus Program, when I have seen it, appears to be ‘sit down, read this book, and do it constantly for three hours a day for so many weeks a year’. I have always said that with all the IT and the nice words, sitting down reading a book and learning how to read is the best way to educate young people. From the figures I have seen - because this Exodus Foundation has been working in Malak and I think at Holy Spirit and Sacred Heart - my understanding is their figures for bringing children who have got behind up to scratch, has warranted the work they have been doing. I am interested to hear the minister’s response.
The Chief Minister mentioned independent schools. Independent schools play a great part in our education; it gives us choice and variety. In this day and age, when I know we are going to discuss some more serious issues later in the day, it teaches values. We have values taught in high schools and primary schools, and there is no doubt we teach those values. However, in some of the more religious schools, they bring that to a level which is different. There is, obviously, a belief in God, and there is a different approach to education - not just about whether you can read or write, but what the future is and why you are on this earth - more deep and meaningful matters. To some extent, that more rigorous approach to some of the ways children are taught, and some of the ways subjects are presented, is an attraction to many people in this day and age when there are so many distractions.
The Good Shepherd Lutheran School at Howard Springs is booming. It is not far off becoming a fully-fledged senior college as well. It is a middle school at the moment with some senior children. It is soon to become a fully-fledged senior college and is growing rapidly. There are issues about land, and I hope the government ensures it does not squeeze it in too much. I would rather have sufficient land around that school for it to expand so we do not have a problem similar to the new MacKillop College in Palmerston which, unfortunately, originally had 9 ha of land when it first applied about 10 or 11 years ago, and up popped a sacred site and took out 3 ha. It is now squashed in between a heritage site and a sacred site.
I am, to some extent, a biased AFL man, but I also love my Rugby League and Rugby Union. They do not have enough room for a fully-fledged football oval. You can play Rugby League and Rugby Union on a fully-fledged football oval, but it is very hard to play AFL on a Rugby ground. When you consider many of our young people who come to these schools are Aboriginal, it is disappointing there was not more work done on selecting a new site.
Perhaps it could have gone over to Howard Springs on a site over the road from Lambrick Avenue on Howard Springs Road. There was sufficient room to build a school there with adequate space. I am not saying it will not be a good school; however, you need the equipment, the playground area, and the space if you are going to build a high school so people have opportunities. It is on its way now so we cannot do much about it unless we have a two-storey football ground. We will see what happens when it is completed. It is something that has been a long time coming. When I first came to parliament, that school was on the list of new schools for Palmerston. It did not happen; it has just happened now, so it is welcomed.
I thank the government for two new buses in the rural area. An area has been developing quite fast that has no buses for schools - the Girraween subdivision on Hicks Road. It has developed so quickly it was left off the bus routes. I thank the government for extending a couple of existing bus routes so children living in that area can get to both Girraween Primary School and Howard Springs Lutheran College. It is a long trip for them but, if they take a good book and their homework, they could probably do that on the way to school and on the way home. I thank the government for that.
In relation to uniforms, I believe Taminmin was one of the first schools to ensure all children at that school had uniforms. I believe it was a mistake of the government not to enforce both middle schools and senior schools to have a uniform. It gives kids a sense of belonging; it takes away many of those issues about fashion. It also keeps the costs down for parents who have to try to match the fashion parade that can occur.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement. When we start to talk about education, there are many issues that could be raised in parliament. I raised the issues today because they are important. I reiterate that special needs must be looked at properly in relation to the proper standards of buildings, and that Taminmin College really needs its fair share of funding. It is the biggest high school and it needs its fair share of money to ensure it stays the best school in the Northern Territory.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I endorse, first, a couple of comments the member for Nelson made in relation to the Lutheran school at Howard Springs and their future expansion. I recall some years ago when the middle schools debate was occurring, I went to all the public meetings. I had a particular interest in middle schools at that time. Some of the argument people put up, both for and against, was quite interesting. The people - the teachers, the public, the educators and the learned people from institutions - who were against the formation of separate middle schools and institutions in separate locations and totally divorced from senior colleges, raised some very interesting points. I will not go through what they all were. There is a debate in the community about how successful middle schooling has been.
I recall very clearly the evidence given to these meetings by people who were quite passionate about their views on middle schools - in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand and, in fact, even in Victoria where they were only part way through implementing middle schools similar to the arrangement we were going to have in the Northern Territory. There were concerns they were going backwards instead of forwards.
Since that time, there is further information, and still debate raging in the community, about whether middle schools which are separate from senior schools, and even separate from primary schools, work. I have heard throughout this debate a number of issues discussed in relation to schools such as O’Loughlin College, Marrara Christian College, and Kormilda. Then, you go into the government schools and some of the middle schools that are part of the government system. It has been raised before - and I am going to just speak briefly on this - there are advantages when you are trying to get kids to go to school and to stay at school, in ensuring you have a composite school that runs from almost Transition all the way through.
The member for Nelson has raised the issue of the Lutheran school at Howard Springs and its ability to expand. I believe his concerns are well-founded because, in the not-too-distant future, I believe they will introduce senior years, which will be on the same campus. Having had some experience in relation to watching young people go through the education system and some of the issues and concerns that confront them, their families, their teachers, and others in the community, it seems good sense to give consideration to composite schools.
One of the greatest problems you have is when young people go to school and are in fear of anything - it might be in fear of the teacher, their peers, threats from bullies in the school. Bullying has been raised by just about every speaker on this side of the House especially, as a major concern. When we have young people who are afraid to go to school, their anxiety levels are up, they do not learn, they do not participate, they withdraw, or they simply do not go. So, to have a school where young people can feel comfortable, where their anxiety levels are down, I believe, is the first essential you need.
If you go back to Transition when these young people start, there is bullying in Transition. I recall very well when I was in the equivalent of Transition, there was a young bloke I went through school with - and I think I mentioned this some years ago in this House. He was a bully, and he was a bully right from Transition. He was eventually convicted of murder and was serving a life sentence in Western Australia the last time I heard of him. Therein lies some of the problems we have in our community; that is, at the very start many of these things are not identified.
In any reports you pick up these days about successful education programs, there are two words that feature in the beginning almost in the first paragraph, in the executive summary and right throughout the entire report; that is ‘early intervention’. If we do not have early intervention, we start to have problems in our schools. Young people start to withdraw as children. I recall seeing this on numerous occasions in my former life. No doubt, the Chief Minister will have a go at me that I am some commissioner in exile, or some other government members may say it was not a worthwhile career. I say that all of us bring something to this House. One of the things I bring is some corporate knowledge of watching young people develop, and some of the problems and issues that face them.
You can do all sorts of things; you can build great classrooms, good libraries, or good skate parks. You can do whatever you like but, if you do not get the very basics right - and that is where kids feel supported, comfortable, and their anxiety levels are not through the roof - then the rest is wasted. Sure, it is there for others, but for that particular person who is a victim of some of those things, then physical facilities are wasted on that person; and therein lies a pathway of, sometimes, self-destruction; other times it is just a pathway of struggling through life. We all know when people struggle through life for years on end it is not a pretty journey, and sometimes has disastrous results, albeit at a young age or an older age. Their health suffers, they do not get the best jobs, and there is a range of issues mentioned in this particular statement on education and training that cover those types of issues.
If we do not get it right, what are we going to do? Are we going to spend more money and resources in our community trying to get it right? So, we have to go back to Transition when kids first come in. The years young people spend with their parents are very important. Those are very formative years of learning how to read, write and, basically, pay attention.
We have a number of people who perhaps do not get the amount of preliminary education that we, as a community, would like to see. Others sometimes get too much. It is these young people who do not get any of that preliminary learning we need to be concerned about. So, when they start school, we need to have every support service we can in those formative first couple of years of school, so these children are not distracted, not concerned and, by that, they are not distracting other children in their class and preventing them from gaining what this report says is the ability to get a first-rate education.
I have – as I am sure most members in this House have - children who have been through the education system. My children went through the government education system, and I have what I would call three of the most successful young people a parent could ever ask for. They work, they are responsible, they have good work ethics - all the things we all aspire to and we aspire our community to have. But there are those who miss out. There is no disputing that education is the key to everything else. I am sure we all agree on that. It is how we go about that.
When we look at middle schools, do we have issues there? Yes, we do. I have spent some time since the middle school concept was introduced just talking to people about the positives and the negatives. I would like to relate some of the stories these people are telling me, and also combine that with my own experience.
What occurs in life, especially with young boys, at the age of around 14 is probably one of the most difficult years you can have, with massive hormone fluctuations occurring in that year. I recall talking to numerous kids in Year 9, and you would simply ask them: ‘Why did you do that?’ These people look at you with this blank look and say: ‘I do not know’. My experience has been that, quite often, they do not; it is because they have these massive hormonal fluctuations they find it difficult to cope with a range of things.
When we look at human beings in general, there are various times in life when we all go through hormonal fluctuations and we do some strange things - both sexes. It is something that, generally, psychologists and counsellors accept as a human condition we need to be aware of. However, when you actually put Year 9 hormonal boys as the role models in a middle school, the Year 7 boys who come along sometimes struggle and say: ‘What are they doing, why are they doing that, and how do they get away with it?’
It is very interesting, when you look at what is on paper, considered to be a wonderful idea. The government certainly put out enough glossy brochures on middle schools: ‘We can do this and we can do that, and everything is fantastic and fabulous’. The problem is when you get down to the grassroots and talk to the people who have to run that particular program, and then put up with some of the issues that are coming to light.
It has been put to me - and I have had discussions with people at school council meetings, on an individual basis, and with other members of the community - how do you actually get that fixed? What has come back to me - and I have agreed with them; there have been a few I have not agreed with – is what happens in a composite school such as Marrara Christian College or O’Loughlin College, you have young people in Transition who are watching the older people. The older people are the upper primary students who have learnt, hopefully. They are looking at the people above them who are classed as the middle school area, and the middle school people are looking above them to the senior students.
I recall in my own high school education watching those who were then known as the prefects, the senior people, the student representative council. All those people were great role models for us coming into high school, to see how I should conduct myself, how I do this, how I interact with my peers, how I interact with friends, how I interact with the opposite sex. There was so much I learnt from watching people who were subscribing to a standard in a high school.
What happens in middle school is you leave primary school, and here are these young people, some of whom appear to others to be totally out of control. The experiment of middle schools, to a certain degree, has raised some interesting problems and some very interesting challenges for those at the coalface - the teachers. I worked with teachers for many years, and it is my belief that you cannot pay teachers enough. They do not teach for the money; they have to love the job to remain in it. It is my understanding that a recent survey showed there is about 40% of teachers not teaching - those who have the capacity, and are of the age, and not retired, are not teaching. They have left teaching and gone into other jobs.
I was talking to someone in the bank recently. They were new to the bank, and a former teacher. Whilst we were doing our banking, I had a quick chat with them, and they said they had enough of the behaviour management problems and trying to maintain some decorum in a classroom. That was the issue the member for Nelson raised as well. In private schools, there seems to be a different attitude, different standard. However, I convey to members who do not have that experience that in a government school, you are required to take all-comers. It is challenging, but there is a community that is different - we are all different, we all learn at different rates, the way we do things. In my experience with government schools I have witnessed some excellent programs, and some excellent teachers who work extremely hard to ensure every child has an opportunity to get a top-class education, as mentioned in this statement.
If you do not get it right at the beginning, then you start to struggle as you go through. I have observed that when young people do not get things right in Transition, Year 1 and 2, and start to struggle, you will see behaviour changes. Young boys especially will start to be boisterous and, sadly, young girls start to withdraw. That is a general observation – it is not all cases, but my information is that is generally what occurs. Sometimes it is not identified - especially when girls are just being quiet - that they are being bullied or feeling scared or insecure. When they sit in a classroom all day, and they are being bullied, and scared, they do not learn. As each year goes by, the problem compounds and they get to the point where they enter middle school at Year 7 and struggle to read and write.
We have heard stories from everyone in this House that there are young people who struggle to write their name, and I have seen it myself. These are people who do not want to go out each day and embarrass themselves. They realise they have to go to class, so they go there and fool around, distract people, and want other people to laugh with them. They are often suffering from severe low self-esteem, and they want people to laugh with them in an effort to lift their self-esteem and how they view themselves and, hopefully, try to get others to view them in a positive light.
Sadly, that just keeps manifesting itself and, when they realise that they can choose not to go to school and there are no great consequences for them and their parents, they start to truant from school. Then they are out on the streets. Once they do leave school, the input into their education normally comes to a sudden grinding halt. At least, whilst they are at school, you have them there and you have the ability to impart some knowledge to them.
When we talk about people who are idle out there, sitting in parks, sitting in Casuarina, school uniforms help that because they have to then bring other clothes to change into because of No School, No Service in some particular areas, which is a good thing. These people then start to wander around various shopping centres, parks, other institutions, and start to harass people at other schools trying to get other kids to go with them – no one wants to do this alone; they all want to be with someone. Being out there on your own and not knowing very much about life can be a very lonely place.
Therein lies your groundwork for drug dealers, paedophiles, and people who want to get these people into a life of drugs or prostitution or whatever. They are fertile grounds for people who do not quite understand exactly what is going on in life. They are sitting around on street corners, they are bored and, when someone comes along and says: ‘I can make your life really exciting for you,’ quite often these people do not have the ‘smarts’ to figure out what is really going on and they find themselves being used.
We know what happens then. They get involved into the drug scene. They either become users or they are dealers, or they deal to keep their drug habits going. Therein lies one of our major problems for youth in the Northern Territory and Australia and, generally, around the world. How do we change it? Early intervention. We need to get in there and change things. There are a couple of things we can look at. I hope the government continues its investment in schooling.
I note the Chief Minister said that all we get from the other side is ranting and raving. Well, for the information of the Chief Minister, part of our job on this side is to bring to the attention of government some of the issues and concerns from our constituents. We are all part of the democratic process that occurs in this House. I feel it is my role, as a local member, to bring to this House and the Chief Minister’s attention issues and concerns that confront not only young people but their parents, the community, teachers - everyone out there who is concerned about the level of education.
The Chief Minister has said: ‘Yes, it is our No 1 priority’. Getting information about some of the ills within the system and trying to fix them, I believe, is also a No 1 priority, not only for the Chief Minister, but for those in the community.
With the 407 additional teachers and the record budget, I am very pleased the government has had a GST windfall so we can continue to …
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am very grateful to the member for Brennan for making that application for an extension of time.
These are things that have to continue and I am very grateful the government is spending more money. The previous government did not have the benefit of the GST windfall to be able to do many of the things this government has been fortunate enough to be able to do. However, it is how you spend the money and the results you achieve. Regarding the ranting and raving accusation, I remind the government that money is an input, not an outcome. You have to achieve outcomes to ensure your money is spent wisely.
The member for Daly spoke about the Youth Round Table and what a great job it is doing. I am a great supporter of youth. I spent much of my life supporting them and trying to guide them, and giving them as much information as I could so they could have a great life and enjoy this fabulous lifestyle we have in the Northern Territory, although it has been depleted by certain events the government has caused and created.
The Youth Round Table used to be the Chief Minister’s Youth Round Table, and that was the esteem in which the previous CLP government held it. It was the Chief Minister’s Youth Round Table. Given that youth are 18% of our population and 100% of our future, it is very important we listen to youth, encourage them, and give them the very best facilities we can to improve their lot.
What is here and around us in our community and, in fact, in the Northern Territory, we have on loan, we do not own it. We are simply going to hand it over to the next generation when they come through. It is our responsibility as a community, let alone government and opposition, to create the environment where they can flourish and do the very best they can, not only for themselves, but for the Territory and, in fact, the country. If we do not, then we slip behind the rest of the world and our standard of living will just deteriorate.
I wonder why the Chief Minister chose to downgrade the input of youth from his area to the minister. I am assuming the minister will say: ‘Yes, I do a great job and talk to these people and consult with them’. When you talk to young people out there, especially those who have been on the Youth Round Table around the time it was changing, they expressed a little disappointment that it used to be held high on the agenda of governments - both governments, the former CLP government and the current Labor government. However, it has been downgraded a bit. They have expressed much disappointment. You would hope that, at some stage, we look at elevating that. I am sure, on our side of the House, we will have an interesting debate about elevating it to the Chief Minister’s area so youth can have the confidence and understand their voice is very important.
Another issue the member for Daly mentioned – perhaps, unfortunately, he is not aware of the history of some of the things the former CLP government did. Perhaps I have been around a tad longer than the member for Daly. He made a statement and said when we were in government youth were moving interstate for their education and it was all terrible. You would think we did not have electricity or roads here when the CLP was in government and, suddenly, the Labor Party come along and turned the lights on and paved the roads with gold. I do not know whether that is a correct version, but it is the version the member for Daly has.
In fact, in the 1980s, not long after self-government, the CLP government was attempting to get a university in the Territory. The federal government would not do that. If you recall, we had a Labor federal government in at the time - in 1983, Bob Hawke came in. In that era of supposed federal Labor government saying they cared about education, and the government here, a Labor government, said they cared about education, in the mid-1980s, no one was interested in building a university in the Northern Territory for our children.
I had three young children at that stage; they were just toddlers really. I wanted them to be able to go to university if they chose to. The CLP, thankfully, was determined and went it alone and formed the Northern Territory University at the old hospital buildings, which is now a vacant lot at Myilly Point. The old hospital was converted into a Northern Territory University. I can proudly say that in 1988 I was an enrolled student there studying law. Unfortunately, due to family circumstances, I had to withdraw from that and my life took another path.
The federal government eventually came on board. The old Darwin Community College was joined together with the Northern Territory University, and it all moved to its current location at Casuarina - and what a fine institution that is. We actually had - out of the Northern Territory budget, not the federal budget - to make our own university here. Gratefully, I can say I am a product of that university, my kids are, and I am sure there are plenty of people in this room who have fine qualifications from that great institution we now call Charles Darwin University …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, do you mind if I just acknowledge our distinguished guests?
Mr STYLES: Not at all, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of His Excellency Mr Chen Yuming, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Australia; Mr Zhang Wei, Counsellor and Consul General of the Chinese Embassy; and Mr Chen Jiliang, Second Secretary of the Chinese Embassy.
On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. There is some history for the member for Daly so that he understands the CLP government did not sit idle. The CLP government had a far more restrictive budget in those days. It, obviously, concerns me when the government members say: ‘We spent more money than you did’. It is a chant that comes out of government all the time: ‘We spent more money here, we spent more money than you ever spent’. Well, the rivers of money that came in courtesy of the GST, which the Liberal Coalition in Canberra brought in, created some good opportunities for the Territory to improve. There are a couple of things for the member for Daly to ponder on.
Referring to the statement, it says:
That is great, and I do not disagree with that. However, there are a number of people out in our community who need to be supported. I spoke about some of the issues young people have if they find themselves bullied, and a whole range of other issues they have to face at school at that age. Sadly, some take their own lives, and I believe later today we will be discussing that particular issue in this House. It is imperative we support those people and do everything we can to reduce their anxiety levels, and make it a safe and secure place where they can be relaxed, enjoy the company of their friends, and learn. When you have happy students who are contented, often I have found those students participate better, they interact better, they are better behaved, etcetera.
That brings me back to people in school who support our young people. Those are counsellors, school nurses, school-based police officers, particular staff who are there to help people who have all sorts of issues to deal with - not only learning issues, but everyday behaviour issues. What I note, though, is we struggle to maintain some of those positions. If I had more time I would enjoy speaking about the changes to the school-based policing program that worked so well and effectively when we were able to be there to support young people, to demonstrate in the school, when they felt bullied and pressured and did not feel very good about themselves, there was someone out there who had the authority to stand beside them, and say to them: ‘I am here to help you, and you do not have to put up with this’. That has a tremendous capacity to build these people’s resilience, to build their capacity to put up with peer pressure and bullying, and to help rid schools, classrooms and the playground of those particular forces that keep many of those kids away from school.
Madam Speaker, I just wish I had some more time to convey the last 18 pages of notes here.
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to add my support to the minister’s statement on Education in the Northern Territory. Delivering education for all young people, regardless of where they live in the Territory, and the value placed on it is a real point of difference between this Labor government and the Country Liberals.
I was very disheartened over a number of sittings, but particularly last week, to see the policy divide widening - not only the policy divide widening, but a lack of policy. I commend the minister for bringing this statement to the House. With such an important debate before us, yet, still there is no real policy from the Country Liberals. There has been some serious ideology from the Country Liberals. When we deconstruct the contribution of the members for Fong Lim and Braitling, those good old hard-core CLP values come back with no real policy document to gauge, and it makes me very concerned. We have those values coming back; they are clear across multiple portfolio areas, but still no policy document for education.
I have to question whether members on the other side know where they are hanging their hat. Are they really looking? The member for Sanderson said: ‘No, it is our prerogative to stand up and deliver for our constituents’ with a straight face. I accept that, but if you want to go back and read the Parliamentary Record then we will see how straight that face becomes. That is a very crooked road when you read, as I do, three years of the Parliamentary Record - not three days, not three weeks but three years of Parliamentary Record. These hard-core values in the area of education worry me greatly.
In response to the member for Blain, the Leader of the Opposition, I absolutely agree with his comments about curriculum. He failed to acknowledge real bipartisan support with one of the major curriculum reforms in the Northern Territory that started with the Country Liberals and was picked up by the ALP and carried on. That was the curriculum framework with a major turnaround into outcomes-based education. That was a good example of a bipartisan approach and things that worked. The member for Blain talked about the divide in outcomes. I remind him about the wonderful Gifted and Talented program that operates in the Department of Education and Training to extend those students. It is not about just accepting that good students who have well-balanced home lives will continue. No, this government believes in, as the Department of Education delivers, providing that extra gifted and talented support.
The member for Nelson talked about special needs support which needs to be factored into good policy as well. I have not seen a policy, so it is pretty hard to debate CLP policy. Special needs education will, no doubt, feature in that policy when it appears - if it appears – if the divide between the old hard-core CLP values and the more moderate approach from the current leader are ironed out in the back room somewhere.
Regarding skate parks, we have heard the political spin created in the back rooms of the Country Liberals by their spin doctors in relation to skate parks, to catch the media attention. We heard the minister reply numerous times that it related to a natural progression of students, school council, looking for good community outcomes and good educational outcomes. What it says to me is this government and the Department of Education and Training continually strive for what I call school spirit. On the other side, they criticise and they knock - and it is not just education policy; they have a go at everything in a manic attempt for one-line spin the media will use, and they ignore a concept like school spirit. How do you develop school spirit? You develop school spirit in partnership with students, parents, and communities.
For the member for Sanderson, I will go one step further because I really liked his contribution to debate on Neighbourhood Watch. If you energise public infrastructure, public places with people, then you actually deliver not only all the good community wellbeing and the creative and educational outcomes, you deliver passive surveillance. Being an ex-police officer, the member will understand what I am talking about: you deliver outcomes in community safety and security. When we factor in schools communities looking at developing infrastructure that can be shared with their community, they are actually going down the road of a community safe pathway to deliver holistic outcomes. I congratulate any school council, any student body, that wants to take that creativity and work with it.
I lived through the old Country Liberal Party policy - the policy that was defined. I was a public servant for 30 years and I lived and I breathed Country Liberal Party education policy. I challenged it then, and I am still challenging it now, but from the other side of the fence. Let us talk about that early policy. I acknowledge the member for Drysdale and congratulate him on the introduction of intonation to his public speaking, where he challenged us with, ‘How dare you!’ I really did enjoy that. You were definitely marked up in your presentation and your public speaking. I encourage you to explore intonation in your delivery in future, member for Drysdale.
What we are talking about in early policy is the Commonwealth Teaching Service. The Commonwealth Teaching Service was when the streets were paved with gold, as the member for Sanderson alluded to. They were literally paved with gold. As the member for Drysdale outlined, they were building schools across the Territory - absolutely. I was recruited as a Commonwealth public servant, came up here under the Commonwealth Teaching Service and went to one such school in Tennant Creek and spent my first year there. They were designed in Canberra; they looked like Canberra, but who cares? We worked with them; they were new. That was new infrastructure on the ground.
Member for Drysdale, it is a terrible thing for me to tell you, but the Country Liberal Party actually closed that school. They came into Tennant Creek and they closed that school. There is a debate in policy - let us get real. I am not going to slag off everything you guys do - come in the ABC …
Members interjecting.
Mr McCARTHY: I actually want to debate this, member for Drysdale.
What was happening in that school? It was a school that started to work on attracting Indigenous enrolment and attendance from people who were often, to some degree, exploring their first realm of formal education in a government school. That school was very successful in doing it. We debated, we argued, but we were beaten.
The policy change from the Country Liberal Party said: ‘No, close that school; turn it into an adult education facility’. We are not knocking that; we have a beautiful adult education facility. However, they did not listen to the community. They ignored what was happening on the ground, which were serious gains made by the community in welcoming and supporting Indigenous kids – a great reconciliation program there, putting the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together under the same roof. They ignored that and closed the school.
They created an adult education training facility. We already had one, but they created a new one. It is a wonderful facility but, to this day, those teachers, parents and community members who protested in the streets and marched with banners, still hold true. It was a regressive step in policy and in outcomes. That reflected the Country Liberal Party policy. I am not sure what it is today because we have not seen it and, therefore, we cannot debate it.
We have heard from a number of members about bush schools. There is no doubt that bush schools were a great institution. However, there was no secondary component. We hit the wall at the end of Grade 6. Grade 7 was pursued in most of those schools I remember, but we hit the wall - we had no secondary option. The secondary option was take the kids away, send them interstate, to Alice Springs or Darwin - and many kids were sent away. The point was they wanted to stay at home and continue their schooling like any other child in Australia. So, we debated and lobbied and, finally, secondary education in the bush was delivered by a Labor government. History says it and I stand here proud of it. I was one of the people who was lobbying on the ground. It was delivered by a Labor government; it was Labor policy. Thank God for Labor!
I was in the business of founding schools, so I was on the continual hunt for resources which brought me to loggerheads with CLP policy, the department, and the local member, who, by the way, was the Country Liberal Party member, Hon Ian Tuxworth. But, that is okay; we worked together. It was interesting when you think about Ian Tuxworth’s, I suppose, separation from the CLP. Let us call it that: a separation from the CLP - from Chief Minister to the National Party; still conservative but a major separation. Maybe members on the other side might like to do a bit of research and deconstruct, through their party machine, what took place. We certainly debated with that member, and that member ended up departing from the Country Liberal Party and stayed conservative. However, there was some conflict with policy there, no doubt.
There was some questioning of what was actually taking place. I hope people like me who lobbied our local member played a part in that. I hope people like me - colleagues and other constituents – who lobbied our local member played a part in that ...
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, can I just interrupt you for a moment, please, to acknowledge some visitors in the gallery?
Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Mr Dion Dodd, the current Chair of the Minister’s Youth Round Table, and Ms Lauren Moss, a former Chair of the Minister’s Youth Round Table.
On behalf of the honourable members, we extend a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Barkly.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I am very proud to be a part of government that has turned that policy on its head; to be part of a Labor government that acknowledges that young Territorians should have access to quality education, and young Indigenous Territorians should also have access to quality secondary education.
You can well understand my frustration with the hypocrisy from the CLP when they rail against governments’ investment in Indigenous housing, in government employee housing, and when they run down our education system for pure political point scoring. This is the value they put on education outside of the main centres ...
Mr Bohlin: Did someone write that speech for you?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! Standing order …
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, we are a government …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, could you just pause a moment please. Your standing order, member for Arafura?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Standing Order 51, Madam Deputy Speaker. What the minister is talking about is very important. I know everyone is entitled to be stupid, but the member for Drysdale actually abuses that privilege.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Arafura. I remind members of Standing Order 51:
Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker ...
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member who just raised that point of order knows it is an unparliamentary comment. She should withdraw that now, thank you.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, which part is unparliamentary? Him being stupid? I said the …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Arafura, could you withdraw that, please, so we can move on with this debate?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I will withdraw that the member for Drysdale is stupid. They have glass jaws on the other side.
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! She should be on a warning.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will make that decision, member for Drysdale, but thank you for the advice. Member for Arafura, resume your seat. If we could move forward in this debate, please. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, this government is not in the business of running down our education system for cheap political points; we are committed to building a smart Territory.
Let us go to infrastructure and the support of education - as this was a major part of the minister’s statement - and the relationship between infrastructure and outcomes …
A member interjecting.
Mr McCARTHY: I will pick up on the interjection over there - the yawning and the bored look from the member of Greatorex. I am happy to be on my feet and I am happy they have to listen.
This government is investing in infrastructure to support our teaching staff to provide a high-quality education for our young people. The Education minister has outlined some of the projects delivered by the government, including the construction already of eight new schools and work now under way on a new Nemarluk School at Alawa.
As Construction minister, I am proud of this government’s record in delivering $270m of works under the Building the Education Revolution program in partnership with the Australian government. This is a program that has benefited every school in the Northern Territory, both government and non-government. It is the program the CLP voted down. It is amazing to see now they want to argue that, but they hung onto the Liberal coattails of their Canberra colleagues. I ask them to reflect on the Parliamentary Record entries, go back, and then deny it again and again; it was an example of major policy divide. It was policy where we were not only building educational infrastructure, but we were promoting business and jobs in the construction industry.
More than 70 Northern Territory businesses have been involved in the delivery of BER works. These works have been an important boost for the construction industry in the face of the global financial crisis and a tightening of the market. These projects have meant real job opportunities for Territorians, keeping people on the tools on the worksite. What would have happened if these companies did not have these opportunities? Let the CLP answer that. They claim to be the party of business. Have they explained themselves to the businesses that are actually rolling out the BER?
The Building the Education Revolution is making a real difference on the ground. A total of 185 schools have already benefitted, including in my electorate of Barkly. I have not seen an infrastructure roll-out like this for many years. This is certainly nation building stuff.
In the time that I have, I would like to table this photograph for the member for Drysdale. This is a good example of infrastructure delivered under the CLP. Let us deconstruct exactly what was taking place. This was Robinson River School, delivered under the Country Liberal Party. However, they had a bit of a red ragger, as the founding teacher appointed encouraged the community not to accept that infrastructure. I was the founding teacher actually, and it was the second school in the list of five. I encouraged the community to not accept that infrastructure. It was substandard, it was dangerous, and it was not going to work.
Under the Country Liberal Party, we achieved our objective. We had a demountable classroom that was fast-tracked into the remote area of Robinson River community - on the station, actually, in those days. It was an outcome and it was fast-tracked by a Country Liberal Party local member ...
Mr Bohlin: When was that? Let us be factual.
Mr McCARTHY: This is Robinson River School in 1986 …
Mr Bohlin: 1986?
Mr McCARTHY: 1986. That is the last time I saw Country Liberal Party policy, because we do not have it here today. In 1986, that was infrastructure in the bush.
We are talking about the BER in this statement. We are talking about a new age. We are talking about a proactive Labor government that supports infrastructure in the bush ...
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that the member be granted an extension of time to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I thank honourable members. We can compare apples with apples. We can compare policy with policy, and the Building the Education Revolution that was denied by Liberal conservatives, but supported by this government - a Labor government - in partnership with a federal Labor government.
I will show the House another photograph, and I table it. This was the teacher’s residence in the same project. Once again, this infrastructure was substandard and we had to go through intense negotiations with the government to have this improved. It was the year 1985. I remember well the telegram I sent over the Royal Flying Doctor Service to the Department of Education in 1985, requesting a dozen Glad garbage bags and a dozen rolls of electrical tape to waterproof the teacher’s residence at Robinson River. Those on the other side look like they are reeling at the moment - and thank God for that, because I am very proud of it. Once again, this is the last time I saw CLP education policy. I will table that, if members are interested.
Two weeks ago, I visited Robinson River School. Robinson River School now has five teachers, five assistant teachers, school support staff - a far cry from old policy, old infrastructure. I am proud to stand here and say it was a journey. We embarked on that journey. We had to work through tough policy, and no recognition of what we were trying to do in the bush. We got there. Under the BER, Robinson River School has received a $945 000 investment for new classrooms and $75 000 for refurbishments of the school fencing. Robinson River School was very proud to tour me, as an old staffer from that school when it was a one-teacher school, to show me new classrooms, a library, a staff room, and a VOQ - a visiting officer quarters. They were very proud to show me their new school infrastructure in one of the remotest parts of the Barkly.
I also make quick mention about Tennant Creek Primary School that will benefit from $2.5m for a multipurpose hall. I was also at Jilkminggan recently to celebrate the opening of their new secondary classrooms in the bush - classrooms reflecting new age technology for new age kids. It was wonderful to be there. I made sure I initiated the conversation about silver bullets, and the older members of that community regaled in our conversation about silver bullets. I happened to compliment them on their incredible infrastructure delivered under the Building Education Revolution, and the agreed with me.
Aunty Jessie, a TO, talked about how many kids they have now and how it is so important to provide new infrastructure to support this growing number of children in the bush - children who need, require, and want a good education.
Let us back track a little and talk about CLP education policy. Let us talk about Learning Lessons. Learning Lessons was a major review into Indigenous education commissioned by the Country Liberal Party. There was no doubt the Territory celebrated that. I was fortunate to be recruited to design the self-managing school. I was appointed to a very good team of professionals to look at the recommendations of a major review into education. My job was to design the self-managing school to start to address attendance, engagement, outcomes, community participation, parents as partners, and all those great concepts around education. Unfortunately, that project was shut down …
A member: By the CLP.
Mr McCARTHY: Absolutely! That project was a CLP government at the time. They looked at the dollars, the numbers, the challenges in the new policy changes that needed to be made, and they said: ‘We cannot really deal with it. We are interested in implementing some of those recommendations. I remember the term well, as I will never forget it - the recommendations that were put up to be implemented were to be cost neutral. I learnt this new corporate term from the CLP - it is called cost neutral.
I packed my bags and went home to Tennant Creek and kicked on with my education career. Labor came to government and the Learning Lessons recommendations started to appear; they started to roll out. This is a policy debate: the Labor government with policy, the Country Liberal Party with a denial of policy, and the Country Liberals at the moment in the Northern Territory with no education policy. This is a debate, and I have my time on my feet, and those on the other side are struggling with what they hear.
The Labor government started to roll out the recommendations of Learning Lessons. One of those important recommendations related to alternative education programs. It was a very innovative way to address diversity in the community and address kids with high support needs, particularly behavioural and emotional, as the member for Sanderson rightly pointed out - real challenges in the school community. They were catered for when we started to commence this exploration of alternative education programs.
Coming with that now is new thinking in our new policy about alternative timetables. That is not rocket science but it is in policy, it is a strategy which is now being rolled out. On the other side, maybe you want to think about that in what you want to include in your policy, when you actually write it and deliver it.
With regard to government employee housing, it was interesting last night to try to see that argument prosecuted by the member for Braitling. I do not think he got there. I do not really know what he was trying to achieve. The photograph I tabled will show you where I started with government employee housing at Robinson River. I ended up actually having that renovated and it became the residence for a family of three.
In a smart Northern Territory, this Labor government is building the smart Northern Territory. We can only imagine what the future might hold in education as new technologies continue to break down the tyranny of distance. That is why this side of the house, a Labor government, supports the delivery of the National Broadband Network. The links of NBN and the arts in education are phenomenal. They are just incredible when you think about the outcomes they will produce when we look and feel and explore high resolution images and audio links, when we can start to make links with schools, not only around the Northern Territory and the country, but all over the world.
This policy is powerful in the early childhood area with the Family as First Teachers and the mobile preschools. A comment made by the member for Braitling - the good old chestnut - that a mobile preschool teacher goes out there and no one turns up. What a crock! These teachers are highly professional and motivated and, when they go into the communities – and I have seen the mobile preschools operate in the Barkly - these teachers go out and look for children and families and they engage people. That is what they are paid to do. I know that it is happening because I have been there and seen it. To come into this House and make those old chestnut claims to try to destabilise and devalue a new innovative concept is very unprofessional.
The Every Child, Every Day policy is important to mention as it is a process. The member for Blain got caught up in the sticks and carrots. This is a process of engaging parents and kids with high support needs back into education. You need to read the policy, and you will probably end up adopting those principles because this is a good policy.
All I can say is what I have witnessed is 10 years investment in education by a Labor government. Just imagine if the CLP had invested for those 27 years. Then we would have 30 years but, unfortunately, we have not. But we have 10 years and we plan to have 10 more and, then, 10 more after that.
Madam Speaker, I am very proud to support the minister’s statement.
Debate adjourned.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I call on general business, in accordance with Standing Order 93.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I am waiting for a couple of papers, but I will continue. I did not realise we were starting a little early.
I move that the Northern Territory parliament notes:
Madam Speaker, life is worth living. Life is a gift and we only have one chance to live it. Today, we have come to debate a scourge on our society: youth suicide - and especially Aboriginal youth suicide.
Suicide is a taboo subject for many people. However, with so many people committing suicide in the Northern Territory it can no longer stay taboo. We need to find ways to tackle this most important issue, and I hope today we can do that in a bipartisan way - not meaning we should not be critical, but balancing the fact we need solutions.
I am no expert on suicide or mental illness, but I know a number of people in the rural area who have committed suicide, and the devastating effect it has on families and friends: the shock, the grief, the emptiness and always the question – why? I know, through my own family, a number of suicides that have occurred in the bush.
In an ABC interview with Leon Compton in October 2010, with the Australian of the Year and Professor of Youth and Mental Health of the University of Melbourne, Patrick McGorry, he said:
That is suicide:
It was, therefore, interesting to also hear him say in that interview:
Without looking at the causes of suicide, we know two things. As Patrick McGorry said, we should aggressively report it - that is, suicide - and we need to fund mental health much more than we do today.
In this debate today, I am interested in the government’s response to both those statements by Patrick McGorry. I am also interested to hear the opposition’s solutions. Or will they use this to play politics again?
My emphasis today will be more on Aboriginal youth suicides. That, in no way, diminishes the fact that the suicide rate of non-Aboriginal people is also of great concern. My rural colleague, the member for Goyder, will be emphasising that issue in her contribution, and I thank her for that.
To put suicide into perspective, I have used figures from a paper presented at the Aboriginal Suicide Prevention and Capacity Building Workshop, Suicide Prevention Australia, Alice Springs 2007. The author was Leonore Hanssens, a PhD student at the time, who is now a researcher with CDU. I have also used quotes and figures from a number of other papers she has written. It is possible that since that paper was presented, figures have changed, but the figures she quoted are still very disturbing.
In 1991, approximately 5% of all suicides in the Northern Territory were Aboriginal. By 2006, that figure was nearly 60%. The percentage of Aboriginal children and adolescent suicide compared to non-Aboriginal children had increased from 40% in 1996 to 80% in 2006. Being male and young is an extreme risk factor for Aboriginal people. In the Northern Territory, 91% of Aboriginal suicides are male; 83% of Indigenous suicides are people between the ages of 15 to 34. Of the children between 10 and 14 years who commit suicide, 100% hang themselves. There has been an 800% increase in male Aboriginal suicides in the decades 1981 to 2002. Unemployment is a very high risk factor, with 72% of Aboriginal people who committed suicides unemployed.
The author went on to note that there are young Aboriginal people who are employable and representing an increasing percentage of our Northern Territory population who are assigned to the ranks of itinerant, aimless, and unemployed. Location of suicide does not appear to make a difference - urban, rural and remote share the same risk. The author mentioned cultural factors and quoted a Tiwi Island health worker who worked for many years with her own people. The health worker said:
She went on to say:
She also said:
She said:
The author, Leonore Hanssens said:
In the Indigenous health report, Leonore Hanssens told the author of this report, Ron Banks, how she has been trying to find out why. She said:
Ms Hanssens also mentioned echo clusters in a report to a Senate inquiry. Echo clusters are distinct clusters of suicide occurring after the initial suicide. This resulted in 44 deaths in two decades on the Tiwi Islands. What is also worthy of note is that 44 deaths can be multiplied many times to come up with a figure of attempted suicides.
I continue to quote from the Indigenous health report, and I will read the last paragraph from that report, again written by Ron Banks about the work of Leonore Hanssens:
I also feel social factors play a big part in suicides - Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal. What is the relationship between depression and broken or dysfunctional families, or parents who are never home or do not know how to parent? When there is no one to talk to in times of stress and pain, with so many broken marriages, how can many young people feel they are wanted or cared about? Young people can go through great emotional stress, especially when a special relationship falls apart. Is there anyone there to help? Most of us when we were young would have gone through relationship stress, and it is an issue we have to look at.
Young people are bombarded through the Internet, mobile phones, iPods, movies, satellite television, and all kinds of music. Unfortunately, some of that medium can be a celebration of death rather than life.
Our local newspaper constantly ran stories promoting euthanasia, which is about suicide, for months on end. I do not say the euthanasia debate is not unworthy of coverage, but constant coverage sends out the wrong message. They even berated our Chief Minister and Opposition Leader for having a different point of view. The paper paid lots of attention to dying, about finishing life when things are bad - not a good message for young people considering suicide.
Have our beliefs in God been replaced with hedonism, where pleasure is the ultimate pursuit, and this is manifested in materialism and short-term satisfaction, which usually leads to disappointment and frustration? Many young people, especially out bush, have few choices that enable them to feel dignity in living. Without work, what is a person? I repeat what I have always said about welfare: it is something that has to change. What is the future living in a community where there is overcrowding and very little pride, where it is difficult to raise a family with little room to live, where there is access to drugs and alcohol? We know what problems that brings.
I wonder about the quandaries we are dealing with. For instance, why are there suicides on communities - the main areas - where people have not lost their land, such as the Tiwi Islands or Arnhem Land, where people can live a traditional life if they want and go hunting and gathering? That always seems an anomaly in this debate. Why, with all that beautiful land, has there been so much darkness and human tragedy?
I was talking to Leonore Hanssens. We were discussing why, for instance, on Bathurst Island this occurred since about 1986. I thought to myself, perhaps there is a correlation between a society that had both strong cultural bonds and strong religious bonds. When I was at Bathurst Island, most people went to church. When I was at Bathurst Island, I saw plenty of ceremonies; they were strong. I wonder whether somewhere in that time period those things changed. Whether it was loss of religious belief or spiritual acknowledgement, I do not know. However, it is an interesting area to look at: why, when suicides were not noted previously, we had this change in the late 1980s and it has continued? It is just a thought, because all I am doing is putting forward issues that need to be looked at as part of the bigger picture.
There are also places where there is no suicide. Why is that so? Is it about strong leadership, strong families, and beliefs? That is an area that deserves attention.
I also note that male suicides are far higher than female suicides. Between 2000 and 2005, there were approximately 100 male deaths to 10 female deaths. Again, when I was talking to Ms Hanssens today, she said whilst previously there had been quite a few attempts by young girls to commit suicide, they were not successful. Unfortunately, what is happening now is they are becoming successful, so that number is rising. That is alarming.
Are the changing and sometimes confusing ideas about the roles of a male in our society reflected in the confusion of young people today? I do not think any of us, as males, found it easy seeing what roles males now play, compared to when I was growing up. You knew there was the father, who was the money earner, and the mother who stayed at home. It was pretty clear; no one really questioned that. Our non-Aboriginal society has certainly questioned it, and more women have equal opportunities in work, in what they do, and that role is not the same as it was when I was being brought up in the 1950s and 1960s.
Is that also something that is affecting males in Aboriginal society? They would have had a clear cultural path in a certain direction that would have been set out over thousands of years. Now, with the advent of television, radio, magazines, western influence and western ideas - in many cases, ideas not based on a belief in God; they are just simply, you might say, a materialistic basis - how confusing could that be to many of our young men as well? What sorts of messages have been sent out from our own society to those people? I am only putting that out as just as part of the debate. I am certainly not saying it is the cause.
We need to promote life as the greatest gift. We need to be positive about life and show in our own lives why there are many reasons to live: family, children, friends, work, music, sport, arts, sharing, community, that beautiful sunset - and there are many beautiful sunsets on Bathurst Island - good music, and good wine. We only have one life to live; let us live it to the full.
Are we afraid to ask: ‘What reason is there for being on this earth?’, and: ‘Is there a God who planned for us to be on this earth?’ Today one is criticised for declaring one’s religious beliefs, especially if you are in politics. However, if you have a religion of non-belief, you seem to be exempt from such criticism. It seems to me today discussions about why we are here, who we are, where life comes from, what happens when we die, are seen as no-nos and are drowned out by the busy lives we live. The meaning of life, as the Monty Python film said, is something I believe all of us have to address. If life is confused with no goals, no meaning, no direction, and little love then it is no wonder people turn to radical solutions like drugs, alcohol and suicide.
I recently went to a talk on the Casino lawns by a Professor, Baroness Greenfield, a foremost British neuroscientist who spoke at this Alzheimer’s fundraising function. I will quote something she said at that function, and also at the National Press Club in Canberra. This might be a little disjointed but you have to picture that she is talking to the press club here.
How does that relate to today’s debate? When I heard the Baroness speak about that, I felt straightaway how wonderful it is that we are all special and unique. No one is the same as us and, because of that, we have something to offer the rest of the world while we are alive. We need to recognise how special we all are, no matter where we come from, the colour of our skin, where we live, our age, our gender, our talents, our blemishes, our failings - we are something special. That is something we need to enforce, especially with young people. We need to hold out a hand when they need it to ensure we are there when they need help, and to tell them we care.
Today’s discussions will, I am sure, revolve around what the government is doing. However, this issue is not just about the government; it is about community taking a leading role and facing up to the problem of suicide. I know people are already - I will mention some now - and they should be congratulated for their hard work. I will just give a few examples.
We have young people like Dion Dodd, who won the 2011 NAIDOC Youth of the Year Award. Dion is an active member of the Darwin Suicide Prevention Network which aims to reduce incidence of suicide by promoting education support services. We have people like Miriam Rose from Daly River, who came to parliament yesterday to talk about the problems of suicide in her community. I have known Miriam - or Ungunmerr to me - since I arrived on the Daly 41 years ago. She spoke about the suicides and attempted suicides that have deeply affected her community and her own family. There have been five suicides at the Daly River in recent times, including one girl. Suicides were unknown in my time there.
The big question is: why has this all happened? What has caused this tragic situation to occur in relatively recent times? Miriam told how at least four of the deaths at Daly were males who had broken relationships. They were not feeling good about themselves, felt like they were moving from pillar to post, and got into alcohol and drugs. She also mentioned that FaHCSIA helped when attempts of suicide were made, but she noted there was no support in the time between the threats. She also mentioned how there is a non-trained drug and alcohol person, the Red Cross has a mental health worker, as does the government and CatholicCare. It seems they are working at the Daly, but what they are doing and how they fit in with one another, we are not sure. The question is: why do we need so many organisations?
Miriam also mentioned the intervention, the shires, the loss of the old CDEP which now seems all about training but not work, about giving people the reason to get out of bed, and of trying to develop employment on the Daly.
We have other people like Julie Turner, mentioned in the news the other day, who is working as a volunteer with the Darwin Region Indigenous Suicide Prevention Network. She is trying to get Aboriginal people to access whitefella organisations like Lifeline and beyondblue.
We have people like Dr John Rudge and Dr Ruth Rudge, two local clinical psychologists who spend two days in their Darwin office and two days on the Tiwi and Goulburn Islands. They seem to be the only psychologists out there working with people, listening to their worries, the troubles they are having, and kids not going to school. They believe remote health should employ psychologists.
Also, a man called Damien Armstrong, who lived for many years in the Ilparpa town camp in Alice Springs. Of the 15 closest friends he went to school with, seven are now dead - five of those suicides. He is concerned that self-worth is being lost among many young people. Damien conducts cultural tours in the region. As the Alice Springs News said Damien:
We need to acknowledge government has a very important role to play. I certainly hope they will be able to answer a few of the questions I put forward today. For instance, can you give us a report on the Northern Territory’s Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2009 to 2011? Has it been successful or a failure? Or have you a new strategy or action plan? There were six action areas in that report; have they all been actioned? There was the Northern Territory Strategic Framework for Suicide Prevention in 2003. What happened to that strategic framework? Do we still have a suicide prevention coordinator announced by the minister at that time in 2005? What happened to the Life Promotion Program in the Top End? Why was it closed down, and who evaluated the program before it was closed down? Have we enough trained medical health workers living in communities? Why, in the 2030 plan, is the issue of suicide not mentioned? I am sure there will be other questions from other speakers, but it would be good if the government could explain its strategies, programs, and budgets. There have been many reports and strategies, but what we need is outcomes that actually reduce the number of suicides.
I just need to make a note before I close because other issues have arisen when I was talking to Ms Hanssens. One of the concerns she had was that we are not dropping off in numbers of suicide as in the rest of Australia. Australia has seen a fall in the number of suicides. Why is it not occurring in the Northern Territory? She said also you have to have post-intervention people who are working with people who have attempted suicide. You must continue to work with those people, and we need to have those people on the ground.
I have only just touched the edge. This is a very important question. We have National Suicide Prevention Week coming up in September, so it is a very appropriate time for this debate. It is an important debate. It will be a painful debate for many people here, but it is a debate we must have. I hope many people in this parliament will contribute to this. I hope it will not end up being a blame game-type debate, because it is just too important. These are difficult issues anywhere in Australia, but they are more difficult in the Northern Territory because many of our more disadvantaged people are, in percentage terms, way outside the normal levels of suicide in Australia. It is over double the numbers of people in percentage terms.
As this is occurring in the Northern Territory, as we are the Northern Territory parliament, we need to contribute today in a positive manner. We need to recognise all the people who work in the communities helping people who could be at risk of committing suicide, but also the people who have to work with families who have to suffer the trauma and sadness, the vacuum that occurs when someone suicides. I have seen figures such as that for one suicide something like 10 to 15 people are affected. I have also seen figures that show, for every suicide, there are somewhere between 10 to 50 attempted suicides. The figures I gave today only show you those who have been successful. There is large group of people out there who have not been successful, and we need to put in systems and programs that will reduce the need for these people to think about suicide.
I do not know 100% the reasons why people suicide, except what I have heard - relationships breaking down. My belief is that we will continue to have these problems if we do not give people work. Young people, especially males, need work. We need to give them some dignity, some reason for living, decent housing, and a decent education.
I know some of that responsibility has to go back on people themselves, but we also need to ensure we can change things. The things governments can change, they should change. I say today, welfare is still my No 1 hatred, because I believe it is taking away the dignity of the human being. If you take away the dignity of a human being, why would you want to live? With very high unemployment, as Miriam Rose said: ‘We are sick of CDEP training. Some of our blokes have been trained and trained and trained. We want a job’. Daly River is a great place to get jobs. It has a bitumen road to a major tourist attraction. There are great opportunities if we could work towards giving people real employment in the tourism industry on the Daly River.
I believe we need some major changes. Yes, we can build new houses, we can build more houses, we can put new schools in, but we have to have people with jobs to improve their dignity, to get pride back in their communities, to also try to build up families. Families are the base of our society. There are many issues around at the moment about gay marriage and all that sort of stuff, but the core of our society still must continue, especially in Aboriginal communities where you have families that are much more extended families than some of our own. You need to reinforce the importance of, and support, those structures because, without those structures, people do not have the support they need in times of pain. When they are struggling through relationships, if there is no one to talk to, then what else do you expect of some of these people?
Madam Speaker, I look forward to the contribution from both sides of parliament. I hope out of this debate something really positive comes. I thank Leonore Hanssens for allowing me to use some of the papers she has printed. I understand there are probably quite a number of other people who have studied this issue. I also look forward to listening to members of parliament, who I know have personal stories to tell. I realise that will be very difficult, but that is the sort of pain we must go through to do something about turning around this taboo subject of suicide so that our younger people live their lives to the full.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, in speaking to this motion tonight I genuinely thank the member for Nelson for bringing this forward because it is a very difficult issue. It is an issue that, in many ways, is taboo to talk about in our community and society. Given the extent of suicide in the Northern Territory, it is important for us, as a parliament, to debate the issue and try to find a way forward, with our community, to start reducing the incidence of suicide in the Northern Territory.
It is the greatest tragedy that could happen to any family; to have someone in their family commit suicide. We can all speak personally about this. I believe all of us have been touched by the tragedy, devastation, and loss through suicide; I, through my family, but also through friends.
As a member of parliament for over 11 years, I do not want to count the number of people I have known who have committed suicide; it would be very distressing. I know on our side of the parliament we have these conversations from time to time. I understand, to the core of who I am, how difficult this issue is. As members of parliament, when we see this happening in our community, and our community is reaching out to us as leaders to look for some answers and a way forward, we feel powerless and helpless in having that debate with people who have suffered the biggest loss you could ever suffer; that is, to lose a child or a loved one.
This is going to be a difficult debate this evening. We have had discussions on our side of the House regarding a potential way forward for this parliament. My colleague, the Minister for Health, will advance some of that thinking in his contribution, and I hope the House accepts that thinking as a way forward.
The member for Nelson quoted some facts and figures. My advice is that Coroner’s reports show 232 suicides in the Territory in the last five years. Some of the breakdown of that incredible amount of tragedy is the number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous deaths are roughly the same: 121 Indigenous, 111 non-Indigenous. The majority of the member for Nelson’s contribution was the tragedy that is occurring in Indigenous communities, but that tragedy is occurring at a similar level in the non-Indigenous community. Proportions? The mathematicians will do the sums on prevalence.
In the raw numbers, though, the highest rates of suicide, I am advised, are young males in and around Darwin. Even though we have this tragedy occurring in the bush, it is also a tragedy that is occurring in Darwin. Those of us who live here all know of people over the last few years and going back - the tragedy of suicide in and around Darwin.
It is devastation that these lives were brought to an end so tragically. It is those young people who will never seek to live their dreams, hopes and aspirations. It is a real tragedy. As a parent, I cannot begin to contemplate the enduring pain, grief, and loss. I do not think any parent could ever possibly recover from losing one of their children in this way. The parents I know who have lost children go through torture every single day in asking the question of themselves as to why, what more could they have done, whether they are to blame, and what they should have done. Those thoughts of that questioning never leave people who lose a child, and that grief extends forever.
I do not have any answers to the questions the member for Nelson was posing. My colleague, the Health Minister, can talk about specific programs. That big question of why - why do people do this, why do people take the ultimate way out of their problems? - is a question I have asked myself on many occasions when I have had experience in my family - not my immediate family, but extended family - but also amongst some very good friends who have lost children.
That question of why is the eternal question that never gets answered. We know, more often than not, the incident is sparked by a painful event that happens in someone’s life. They fail to come to grips with that issue and spiral into an ever more painful space of despair until such time as they want that pain to stop and take the ultimate way forward and suicide occurs.
With all of these issues many of these painful events that happen in people’s lives - whether it is a relationship breakdown or as a result of abuse or bullying - whilst they are occurring, it is very hard for them to talk about. The fact that people do not talk about those issues, do not go on and seek help, do not talk to family and friends about the way they are feeling, makes it very hard to intervene. I suppose it is for all of us to try to pick up when something is happening in the way people are behaving and communicating. The questions we should ask might be quite personal questions that people do not want to talk about. This is complex. There are no simple and easy solutions to the reasons why people commit suicide.
We are going to have this debate. It will be really interesting to hear people’s views on this tonight. We had some considered thinking on this side in a way forward we will talk about. However, it is very clear: this is not just an issue for governments to solve. Obviously, governments have to play a part in resourcing programs and trying to work with the community and society to see this does not increase. In fact, we see a reduction in suicide. It is a debate a whole community and families should have. It is a debate that does not often happen. We need, I believe, a community approach in talking about this issue and how we, as a community, with government, are going to build resilience in those who are tormented in their personal life, and how we go about that.
It was an interesting statistic - I did not have it in my notes – from the member for Nelson that 72% of people who commit suicide are unemployed. This is a compelling statistic in the hopelessness that unemployment brings to people. Fortunately, in my life, I have never been unemployed. I cannot think of anything worse than getting out of bed in the morning and not knowing what I am going to do for the rest of the day, and for that to happen day after day, month after month, year after year. These people are just living on welfare payments and handouts that provide for the very basics of life and day-to-day needs, but certainly do not give them an opportunity to enjoy life and to build a life for themselves and their families.
There is a very old and a very true saying - and it is not meant in the political terminology - that there is dignity in labour. There is dignity in work and, without work - I can only speak as a man, but I am sure it is the same for a woman - there is no dignity unless you are contributing to society and you are actively engaged.
That number is a very telling number if it is right - and I am sure it is - that 72% of people who commit suicide are unemployed. That is why I ask where do governments step in? We need to focus on unemployment as an issue and try to get people who are unemployed long term into the workforce. The government can do that in levers it has with the welfare system and also with training programs.
Over the years, I have had discussions with health professionals, the Coroner, as well as our police, about many people who end their lives being caught up in a spiral of alcohol and drug abuse. Of course, being caught in that spiral can certainly lead you into places you would not otherwise go, and make it easier to take that decision. That is why, I suppose, again through my life’s experiences, I have a zero tolerance approach to people who peddle drugs in our community, because they peddle in misery. I believe that people who profit from the sale of drugs in our community are amongst the lowest forms of life we have in our society. Those people profit from the sale of drugs which does, in the worst circumstance, lead to people losing their lives.
I make no apology for being single-minded in giving our police the ammunition they have to bring these people to justice - to seize their assets and throw them into gaol, because that is where people who peddle in this misery belong. In our remote communities, particularly, the potency of the cultivated marijuana people grow or smuggle into the Northern Territory and sell in our communities causes a level of psychosis that heavy marijuana use induces in people. Those people who sell those drugs into our community are amongst the lowest forms of society, knowing full well the psychosis, the dependency, and the damage caused by that drug.
In response to whether we do more in enforcement around the running of drugs into communities and the alcohol and drug issues, it will be interesting to hear the debate on that. Police can seize assets. We have the harshest penalties in the nation but, all the time that large profits are there to be made by selling small quantities of drugs that cause enormous grief, I suppose people will be tempted by those large profits.
In relation to where we go from here, obviously, investment in education is critical if we want better employment outcomes. The member for Nelson talked about the bush. Obviously, that investment in education is absolutely critical to give those kids the skills and qualifications to take jobs that are available. I will not go into all the detail on education; we have had that debate today. We are committed to doing that.
I reinforce the importance of programs like the Clontarf Football Academy. If 72% of all males who commit suicide are unemployed, then my hope for something that is working and might reduce those figures are programs like Clontarf. When we kicked off Clontarf five or six years ago in Alice Springs, after Gerard Neesham came to see me, the tragedy was there were no young Indigenous males leaving the high school system in Alice Springs completing Year 12 - not one. Virtually all of those young Indigenous males in Alice Springs were dropping out of school at 15. There is one sure-fire outcome of dropping out of school at 15 without any qualifications; that is, you are going to be unemployed. Most of those kids would be unemployed for the rest of their lives. We now have the Clontarf program and the program for the girls at the girls academies, with 900 young males and females enrolled across the Northern Territory. The vast majority of those 900 kids will complete Year 12, will transition into a job, and are less likely to be part of that appalling 72% statistic of unemployed young people who take their lives.
How do we strengthen those types of programs that actually get kids through school, and those difficult years in adolescence? For young men, by having positive male role models, mentoring them through their school, into employment, and having employers committed to taking on those young men who finish Year 12. I issue a call tonight again - I have said it before, I will say it again - for employers in the Northern Territory who want to make a difference in giving Indigenous people an opportunity, to get involved with Clontarf. Make that financial commitment - it is tax deductable - and provide work experience and a pathway into a job. I cannot think, if you are in business, of a more honourable organisation to get involved in if you want to make a difference in getting Indigenous people into work. I believe programs like Clontarf are part of the answer of that unemployment question and getting people into work.
We are going to see in Alice Springs within a couple of years, on average, 40 to 50 young boys graduate from Clontarf. I have not seen the numbers from the girl’s academy yet, but there is no reason why that will not be similar in a few years time. That is over 10 years. If we are talking 50 a year, that will be 500 young men in Alice Springs who did Year 12 who are actually employed. With kids going to school, these are the sorts of transformational programs that are taking place.
The understanding I have is that we need to - this is a big debate - particularly focus on young people between the ages of 17 and 25 in service delivery and programs. That seems to be the cohort that is falling through the cracks. As the member for Nelson said, it is interesting - in Daly River, I think you talked about – there are three different organisations, the Commonwealth government, Territory government and Red Cross, working in that mental health space in Daly River but, is any of that work joined up? That is a very important observation. We need to progress our thinking around how we can better focus and coordinate those prevention and support services, as well as responding to suicides when they occur.
I know colleagues on this side of the House will talk about how it hits everyone, particularly in a small community. If suicide does occur, what is the response in bringing the community together to find a way through the tragedy with the community? In bigger cities like Darwin, of course, it hits the immediate family and friends really hard, but life goes on and everyone can see life going on. There is not really a great deal of focus on that debate outside of the individual family concerned. In a really small place where someone commits suicide, that would just devastate that entire community for a long period of time. What is the response to the tragedy in very small places to try to assist the community to work through that issue together? Again, I do not have the answers for that. I am sure many people will talk about that during the debate tonight.
In my contribution, it is very much still for me a question of why and what more can we, as a community, do? We are going to have this debate; many people are going to speak on this tonight. As I said, my colleague and friend, the Health Minister, will make a suggestion soon of a way forward we have agreed to on this side of the House. It is an important debate this evening, because the devastation and the tragedy to family and communities, and the absolute tragic waste of a human life is a big issue in the Northern Territory.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have been in this place with the Leader of the Opposition now for 11 years. I cannot recall having had this debate, specifically like this, before. I urge honourable members to put forward their thoughts for a way forward and see if we, as a parliament, can find a way forward on this issue.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, we have a pairing arrangement in place from 5.30 pm until 7.30 pm, between the members for Arafura and Drysdale. I table that document.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Deputy Speaker, I commence my comments with an acknowledgement of the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and families of those who have made a decision to leave. Those who are left ask what I am sure is the daily question that never goes and never comes with an answer as to why. The other questions which eat at the heart of that person’s morale are: ‘What could I have done? Was there any sign that I missed?’ I acknowledge there are many in our community who live with that.
Going wider than that, we are aware of those who are outside of the immediate families, in our networks - whether they are directly related or a part of our network. We know those and we share that discomfort as well. The member for Nelson is quite correct in identifying it is a topic difficult to talk about. It is difficult to talk about in this parliament because we are largely confined by convention to the space around programs we could offer, when the question itself begs an inquiry and response at a much deeper level than we are accustomed to dealing with in this parliament and, sadly, in our interactions with each other. There are those we are aware of and we do not quite know what to say, how to broach the issue, so we all talk about it. Why was that so? Why did that happen?
The member for Nelson has brought this topic into the parliament for discussion, and there will be a number of talks from both sides. There may be the expectation that something would be announced or described in here that will actually effect change. If that is the case, then we are required to talk about this in a mature way and to be quite honest about the problem. I can understand the member for Nelson - once bitten, twice shy - fears something like this could easily escalate into a political discussion or debate. I do not think such a matter could occur or, even if matters were couched in such terms, we understand we are being watched over by those families who are still grieving and carry permanent grief. They require a response from us.
I do not propose we will have a solution, and I do not believe that this motion will take us anywhere other than bringing to light, in a public way, this issue and discussing it from a number of different points of view. I do not believe in gestures that create the appearance of a positive response; that is, getting us all to work together is, in fact, a response. We are, in many ways, working together one way or another, if we all put down our political weapons and come to a space in the middle and start to talk about this. We have had those discussions plenty of times. I do not have faith that will occur. Even if it did, it might give us a good feeling but it will not actually address what is a profoundly challenging problem for each of us - individually and within our own political organisations. I believe we have to cut to commentary about what we believe - what I believe. What I believe we need to be doing in a response is first understanding what I believe the problem is, in fact.
Ultimately, the question is generally answered in the sense: why did someone make that decision to go? It was because they had no hope; hope had gone. How is hope given? A person with hope hangs on and pushes through the difficulty. However, if there is no hope, the answer to the question becomes almost obvious, sadly and tragically. There is always cause for hope, but how is hope removed? Hope, in my view, is removed by the removal of a value to the person. They have no value in their community, no real purpose to their existence day after day, and that is the enemy of any sense of hope. In a community or a family you need, in order to thrive, to have a sense of value. That whole notion is extended all the way through. You have some value and, if you start to wonder whether you do or not, that begins an investigation that would take you to a very dark place. If you have value, you then have a purpose. What is your reason for getting up each day? You are contributing to something; it has some meaning.
I agree with the member for Nelson - in fact, I agree with much of what the member for Nelson said in exploring this issue - because there are some serious questions and we must hang around for, perhaps, some uncomfortable answers.
The issue of meaning is illustrated by a study that is often cited which was conducted in tragic circumstances. I understand this study was conducted in a concentration camp and I believe it illustrates what I will say after this. There was a group of prisoners who, for the sake of an experiment around the notion of meaning, hope and purpose, were given a job. The job was to smash up rocks, load them into wheelbarrows and wheel them to the next enclosure. They spent all day doing that and they had to work very hard. Once that job was completed, and they had moved them all from enclosure A to enclosure B, they then had to do the same job. Smash up those rocks again, load them onto the wheelbarrows and take them back to enclosure A. They kept being made to do this to see what effect it would have on them. They soon realised the job had no meaning other than go from A to B, B to A, A to B, B to A. The observation made on the psychology of these prisoners was they began to break down when they had endured this for weeks and months. There were suicides and cases of insanity, and people’s psyche snapped because it was a completely meaningless job with no purpose.
The tragedy is there was another group of prisoners who were involved in another exercise where they felt they were a part of something, even though it was the machinery of death in a prisoner of war camp. It was a machinery of death but they had their part in it, so they could deal with that, as obnoxious and offensive as it was. They had a part to play, so they could see they were a part of some kind of system and could deal with the moral issues of what they were actually involved in. They were a part of something that made some sense and had some meaning in their role, albeit not accepting or agreeing with the purpose. The psychology of those prisoners was markedly different from those who were involved in something that was totally meaningless.
It has been questioned a number of times whether it is actually the case or not. Sadly, I tend to believe it is, because there was much material gained through these prisoner of war camps. What it illustrates is, if there is no meaning whatsoever, it becomes a pointless exercise and something is going to give.
I believe we have the welfare system that gives no meaning or purpose, no value. You have removed, right at the foundation, the place where someone can stand with their basic value. ‘I have some value, I know what is right and wrong, effort and reward, consequence for actions’. All of that is gone. Someone who makes an effort gets the same reward as someone who makes no effort. That is useless; no wonder things collapse. If there is absolutely no real purpose to your job, it is just a made-up job. Something is lost - something fundamental is lost.
If you go to school and you are taught stuff that has no meaning, does not connect to anything in real terms, and you have a family that says: ‘We went to school and it did not produce anything, so going to school becomes an empty exercise’. You have to join the dots, it has to connect. That is why I spoke earlier on the need to connect genuinely - put some skin in the game, connect genuinely - with welfare reform, the realistic aspirations of parents to what is actually going on in the school, so there is some meaning there, and you are actually supporting the family.
My faith is more in the family and in the people than it is in the program. It seems to be that governments can easily retreat into the position that they put their faith in the program and the amount of money that is being spent in the program, so the program has power. Programs do not have power, people have power. You can either increase their power or you can decrease and diminish their power, but the program itself does not have power; people do.
Welfare - we have to go there. Economic reform and activity that is meaningful, letting people make mistakes but being there for them when they need us to give them a hand, to me, are the basics. An education system that rewards those good families who send their kids to school sends a clear message: what is right and what is wrong. There is a good reason for taking these tough stances - not to be tough on people, but to take a stand that gives some meaning to a family that is struggling.
It is very telling that the Chief Minister identified that, of the number of suicides in the Top End, there was a number of non-Indigenous. In my own electorate, sadly - I can barely talk about it. Why? When you look at the environment many are living in, in the culture of substance abuse - I have known some kids who have struggled through substance abuse – and dysfunction in the household. Watch MTV, and Rage and you see from the video clips the crap that is being pumped into them. They start walking around as though they are someone else, aping some other culture that has no connection or meaning, but they are struggling for something, and destruction is the result. We see it and it is just so difficult. When the education system, one way or another, has not been able to get that young lad to be able to read a book, yet they want something, they want some endorsement. The ones who are there to provide them with that endorsement have a culture that is toxic, dangerous and destructive.
What can we do? Well, there are basic things, as I said. We will talk about programs. A quote from George Bush was ‘the bigotry of low expectations’. This is not where it is going to get political, I just say if three point whatever billion dollars is spent on Indigenous programs, and the results are very poor, that should prompt a very powerful response, because the effect is a human cost. So, if there is a low expectation that reduces the value you place on an individual, and you place the greater value on the program, immediately the loser is the person. Therefore, if we have a low expectation of the individual, but a high expectation of the program, and the program is something to make the administrator of the program look good, we are in dangerous country.
That, sadly, has been the case for some time. Just in case members opposite instantly go into that defensive mode, I am not talking about since the Labor government came to office. I believe it is a serious cultural problem of bureaucracies where they lose connection, and do not have the courage, therefore, of confronting the effect of their decision on real people - learning to walk with and respond to real people in a real way and actually be accountable.
It has been going on for a long time. The community is crying out for something a bit different. Their people will scream, I reckon, when these hard decisions are made. However, we have to cut through the industry and turn the resource of the industry, with the money that it is being given and its human capital, on to the point of the issue, which is those who most need help. We have to provide some genuine support for those who are struggling and trying, day after day, to do the right thing, by having a consequence for those who do not do the right thing, and a reward for those who do the right thing. We have to provide welfare reforms so there is some meaning and value to effort, responsibility, and risk taking. We have to occupy that space. Good heavens! I do not want to be here in 12 years time and have another talk like this; I feel like I have spent 12 years talking about the same sort of thing. The same background theme is there all the time.
Perhaps on a brighter note, in conclusion, what can we do? One thing we can do - and I know the member for Nelson does this. I know it with the local football club. I have taken a lot of interest in the young people in Palmerston over the 20-odd years there. I am still in touch with them. Fortunately, to me, it is one of the greatest blessings that they are still in touch with me; they talk to me. Kids I have known for a very long time call into my office. I know their stories, their families, the troubles they have had, and the sadness behind the scenes. One thing I have noticed over time - particularly these ones I have a real soft spot for, trying to get them on the right track – is when the football season was on and they were a part of the football club culture, they had strong men around them, and felt they belonged to something, and they did not get into any trouble. They were turning up to training, they were not going out late at night generally, but they certainly were not doing things they should not be doing.
Basically, the crimes statistics around the football season, with those ones I had a watching brief on, were not appearing on those registers. I saw they were a part of something, they felt valued, and they felt accountable and responsible. Therefore, I put the call out for any member - I know you lead by example - one thing we can do is if you have your local club, it is good to be a patron of a club. Sadly, my time is so busy these days, but I want to - if I could spend time - just run in the water or be there with those young lads or the girls academy I saw at Rosebery the other day.
Anyone can do that. If anyone is listening to this, if you have the opportunity to be a volunteer with one of our organisations, do so, because that is something you can do; that is, putting skin in the game. That is the sort of thing we need. Hopefully, we do not talk about programs because we have no end of programs - programs coming out our ears. What we need is skin in the game and to make that connection and hang around when that difficult question is asked: ‘Why did they make that decision? What could I have done? What must we do now?’ One thing we must do now is to step across that line and recognise there is no turning back; we have to get involved.
Thank you, member for Nelson, for raising this. I cannot see the end of this being that we will all work together to consider solutions. I believe we really have to have some action. There will be some challenging comments, and those comments will have to be given life by the decisions that are made by a government in turning its faith from programs to people and making sure the decisions you make effect change in real and measureable terms around the value of a person. Grant them purpose by dealing with the clear problems, which are welfare, an education system that connects to real work and meaning, and the law and order …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, your time has expired.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Deputy Speaker, I respond to the very sad issue the member for Nelson has raised today: the tragedy of suicide in our community and, in particular, the alarming number of youth suicides. Suicide touches us all no matter who we are or where we come from. The heartache of those left behind, and the devastating impact extending far beyond the immediate family members into our schools, workplaces, and communities is something we all share.
We know that suicide is an issue of real concern in the Northern Territory. The most recent figures released by the ABS indicate that in the five-year period from 2004 to 2008, the Northern Territory suicide rate was 22 per 100 000 compared to the average national of 9.8. This rate is the highest of all jurisdictions. I wish to examine where suicide is occurring in our community, as this will help us develop strategies to reduce and prevent more suicides.
Suicide affects all Territorians in every single population group and every single part of the Northern Territory. We know some groups are more at risk than others. The Northern Territory Coroner reports there have been 232 deaths by suicide from 2005 to 2010, with over 80% of these men - 193 men and 39 women. The highest rate of suicide currently in the Northern Territory is for Indigenous and non-Indigenous males living in and around Darwin and young Indigenous males living in remote communities.
In fact, it appears these deaths are occurring equally in Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations - 121 Indigenous and 111 non-Indigenous. Given the Indigenous population is around 30% of the Northern Territory population, we realise this issue is taking a heavy toll on our Indigenous community.
The majority of the suicides - 78% - occur in the Top End. The age distribution shows that it is mainly young people who are most affected; 32% of the deaths occur in people under 24 years of age. Slightly less, 27%, occur in the age 25 to 34 years age group, 20% to 35 to 44 years age group, 12% to 45 to 54 years, and 4% in 54 to 64 years and over. The majority of these deaths occur in the bracket between 25 and 64 years. The cause can be stress, work, family breakdown, marriage breakdown - many factors. It is not one single factor, but there are many factors.
We know that men are strong, we can cope with everything, and rarely do we go and seek help. That indicates well the number of suicides in the male population and why there are so many. For some Aboriginal communities, suicide and the threat of suicide has become such a worrying issue that the associated fears and stresses impact on the whole community.
Recently, some of our communities experienced the devastating loss of some very young people. This has been a terrible tragedy for families, community members, and workers who had been involved in these deaths.
Although we cannot be certain a person’s death is from suicide until a Coronial investigation has confirmed that as a cause of death, we are aware there has been an increase in the number of deaths of young people where suicide is suspected over the past 18 months. Attempted suicides and deliberate self-harm are also very serious problems, particularly for our young people. While there are difficulties with recording and interpreting these types of incidents, we know from the informal reports that more of these incidents are happening. These are tragic and sobering facts. The Northern Territory government is fully committed to doing what it can to prevent suicide.
When a person takes their own life, the devastating impact of such an event can sometimes mean we seek simple solutions and an explanation in an attempt to make some sense out of this individual tragedy. Yet, this terrible conclusion is often the result of a complex flow of factors. These can include issues such as depression, other mental health problems, drug and alcohol misuse, inadequate education, lack of meaningful or any employment, cultural or sexual identity issues, poverty, sexual and physical abuse, and problems with family and the law. Factors such as grief, loss and trauma experienced by many Aboriginal people in communities over many years can also have a significant impact on an individual’s vulnerability.
There is no single route to a reduction in our suicide rate. Every suicide is different, and there can be no single approach to prevention. Instead, it requires the involvement and cooperation of the entire community to work together to build resilience, resourcefulness, tolerance and compassion in communities, and in people of all ages, to promote life options for those at risk of suicide.
It is important to remember that few people want their life to end; rather, they want the pain and difficulties they experience to stop. In some cases, suicide is actually a call for help. Some people do not intend to commit suicide; it just happens at the very end.
Effective suicide prevention needs to combine a range of strategies and approaches targeting the whole population, specific groups, and individuals at risk. This means a whole-of-government and community approach is needed to respond to this tragedy. It means the cornerstone of suicide prevention lies in corporate partnership approaches between government and non-government organisations and the broader community. I say here that ‘the government’ does not mean only the territory or state governments; it means state and territory and Commonwealth governments, because we are all involved in this issue.
We know this approach can be successful. We have seen it on the Tiwi Islands when we had a spike of suicides from 1990 to 2002. We developed a number of interventions with the community. The Tiwi for Life mental health team was established in 2002 with a clinical psychologist providing an intensive visiting service from Darwin, and four community-based Tiwi mental health workers. The team led engagement with the elders to devise ways to tackle the problem, focusing on social and emotional wellbeing.
A key intervention was the Strong Women and Strong Men meetings. Nearly 25% of the Tiwi population attended one of these workshops over a 12-month period 2002-03. The community addressed practical matters such as the access to alcohol, for example, with a limit on service in social clubs and providing mid-strength rather than full-strength beer.
Physical barriers were placed on structures such as power poles to impede the ways people were attempting suicide. The team was very active in educating and supporting the community on alternate ways to deal with their stresses and problems. The spike in Tiwi suicides and attempts was arrested over a short period of time and there was a comparative reduction in suicides in 2003. We have maintained the Tiwi mental health workers team with a reduced service from the clinical psychologist.
This government has been committed to reducing suicides. In 2007, we introduced the Northern Territory Strategic Framework for Suicide Prevention. In 2009, we implemented the cross-government three-year action plan. This enabled strategies to promote community resilience and prevent suicides to be imbedded in the core business of the agencies including Health, Children and Families, Education, Police, Justice, Arts and Sports and others. Over the first 18 months of the action plan, $350 000 was allocated to progress a range of new initiatives with a further $200 000 in 2010-11. Initiatives funded under the action plan included expansion of the applied suicide intervention skills training, called ASIST. We have also been trialling a shorter version of this program with young people from the age of 15 in the Alice Springs area.
We recognise that programs such as ASIST are not always culturally appropriate for use with Indigenous people. Increased funding was also allocated to complete and trial Suicide Story, an innovative suicide prevention program developed by the Mental Health Association of Central Australia in collaboration with local communities. This program aims to develop an improved understanding of the issues of suicide in the local context, improve skills to work with people at risk, and provide a sense of hope for these communities which have undertaken to participate in the process.
Suicide Story has now been delivered in a number of Central Australian remote communities, and the live promotion team is currently developing a train the trainer program so it can be expanded and made available to these communities which are currently experiencing suicidal and self-harming behaviour.
Other initiatives funded under the action plan have included the provision of training workshops in all major centres of the Northern Territory and some remote regions to address non-fatal self-harming behaviour amongst young people. We have also been working closely with our colleagues in the Commonwealth to ensure suicide prevention strategies they fund are appropriately targeted and fit with our local context. We will continue the collaboration through the COAG health agreement and mental health reform, and will ensure the Northern Territory also receives its fair share of Commonwealth funding in this area.
In Budget 2011-12, this government announced a further increase in funding for suicide prevention initiatives, with a particular focus on our young people. Whilst we are committed to trying to prevent suicide across every age group, we know that all communities invest many of their hopes and dreams in their young people. When a young person suicides, it is not only devastating for the family and friends, it has a big impact on their community. An additional $600 000 has been allocated this financial year for suicide prevention, increasing to $800 000 in 2012-13, and $1m recurrent from 2013-14.
New initiatives funded will include training for frontline workers, increased education in schools, targeted intervention for young people at risk, and improved data collection and research. An important focus will be identifying why some community populations are at greater risk than others, and what things we can put in place to better protect vulnerable individuals in communities.
There is currently debate about how much we should talk about suicide. Conventional wisdom has been that the circumstances of individual suicides should not be published and, particularly, not sensationalised. You can imagine these details could traumatise the family and friends, including children. There is also the issue I mentioned earlier; that you cannot presume a death is actually suicide prior to the coronial investigation. However, it is important for us to talk about the scale of problem we have with suicide in our community, and I welcome the debate today.
I assure you we will continue to work with communities and experts in the field to see what would best help when there is an increase in suicidal and self-harming behaviour, and what will help families and communities when they are bereaved by the suicide of a loved one.
In addition to the funding I outlined for suicide prevention, the government also announced additional funding in Budget 2011-12 to expand child and adolescent mental health services in the Northern Territory. We will provide $1m in 2011-12, increasing to $2.12m in 2012-13 and $2.2m recurrent from 2013-14. This money will be spent to provide special assessment and treatment for young people with severe mental illness, and increase support to GPs, health centres, and schools, to better support young people with mental health problems.
Our government is committed to reducing suicide wherever possible. I know you will support all efforts we make to address the tragedy. Importantly, we will be working with our young people to do whatever we can to instil a sense of hope for the future, and give them the opportunities to achieve their goals and dreams. They are our leaders of tomorrow and our most precious resources.
Like many in this House, as a father, I cannot imagine anything worse than a suicide of one of our children, because it is not only the loss of a loved one, it is the questions that remain after their death: ‘What have I done wrong? What could I have done better? Why did I not realise that person was thinking like that? Was there anything else I could do?’ The impact on your personal life, on your marriage, on the children, the siblings, would be enormous.
I mentioned many millions of dollars allocated for suicide, but that is after we have had the event, after this happened. We have to start looking at how we are going to prevent suicide. I find it fascinating, when I grew up in society where suicide is a cardinal sin. Suicide is condemned by the church, suicide is frowned on by the people, but it does happen for many reasons.
I recall in the 50 years of my life, the only suicide I experienced was one year I visited my village - a small village in northern Greece - and someone committed suicide because he was very old, very sick, and very lonely. Even then, the community did not take it very kindly. In fact, if you commit suicide, under our religious instruction, you cannot be buried in consecrated ground; you have to be buried outside the cemetery. That is a further condemnation by the church and the community.
If you look around at our world today, you find suicide is very high in developed societies, while very low in societies that struggle to survive, to learn, to find work, and in everyday activities. We might have to think differently. Instead of allocating all this money to treat the aftereffects of suicide, we should spend money to give people opportunities to live a full life; have meaning in their lives and provide them employment. I found it fascinating when I was growing up in Greece and was part of the young student movement which demonstrated in the streets of Athens for the right to work. I find it absurd here that people actually argue about their right to welfare. It is a stupid idea and should be reversed.
I believe the Territory and Australia has many opportunities for every single citizen born here, either Indigenous or non-Indigenous. With 1.3 million square kilometres, do not tell me there are no opportunities for development, either in the pastoral industry, agricultural industry, mining industry, or any other industry, for 30% of the population which lives outside the urban communities. The only thing that stops it is the stupid mentality of people in Canberra who think they know everything. I have seen that many times in the past 50 years, in both political persuasions - not one side or the other, both political persuasions. It might be the mentality that was brought back from the old country, the typical Anglo-Saxon system where we have to protect everyone. It might be a sense of guilt that we took the land away from Indigenous people, and, somehow, we have to compensate. The way they compensate is to throw money - throw money and that will solve the problems. It does not; it creates more problems.
What will solve the problem is to give some meaningful life to these people. Make these young people want to wake up next morning to do something with their life. Make these young people say: ‘I can be something in my life’, not wake up in the morning, look around and think, ‘Why should I go to school today? My mum and dad did not go to school, they are still here, they do not have a job, they get unemployment benefits. Why should I get out of bed today, there is nothing to do out there, nothing to aspire to go out to do?’ We have to start changing their way of thinking.
I commend the member for Nelson for his motion which said:
The Northern Territory parliament notes:
(a) the alarming number of youth suicides in the Northern Territory, and
Madam Speaker, I move that the motion be amended by inserting another paragraph as follows:
(a) proposals to access Commonwealth funding programs including the National Partnership Agreement on Mental Health targeting suicide prevention, intervention and youth mental health, with a particular emphasis on youth between 17 to 25 years of age;
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for bringing this motion before the House, as the issue of youth suicide is a very serious issue as is, indeed, suicide by anyone of any age.
It needs to be talked about, as the number of suicides in the Northern Territory is alarming and something has to be done. In researching for this speech, I looked at many Australian and some overseas websites. It did not matter which site I accessed, the startling fact every time was that the Northern Territory is miles ahead of anywhere else in the world in suicide levels. That, in itself, is not only cause for alarm, but incredibly sad and tragic.
In the Australian Bureau of Statistics data, it states very clearly that the Northern Territory has the highest rate of suicide, and one of the highest rates of suicide in the Indigenous population, contributing to the high rate of suicide in our jurisdiction.
Suicide and attempted suicide affects not only the individual committing the act, but friends, relatives, colleagues, family members, and children. Therefore, statistically, almost everyone in Australia and the Northern Territory is going to be, or has been, affected by thoughts of suicide, attempted suicide, or death from suicide. Currently, there are around 2000 deaths per year from suicide in Australia. It is estimated that more young people die from suicide than from car accidents. Also, 80% of deaths from suicide occur in males and 80% of all suicide attempts occur in females. It affects females and males directly, and both equally share and feel the pain, with their families.
In many parts of the western world, suicide rates increased rapidly until the late 1990s, and have slowly been falling for almost 10 years. Many researchers believe that better diagnosis and treatment of depression and mental illness has caused this fall in suicide rates. This fall was matched by the use of medications, as I have read in research papers. However, the lower use of antidepressants in young people in the past few years has similarly been correlated with the risk in suicide rates, and this needs to be addressed.
Research suggests that about 5% of the population will have thoughts about being dead in any 12-month period. Such vague fleeting ideas are probably not of concern as our brains consider many options when faced with problems. However, seeing death as an attractive option, wishing that one was dead, or envying people who have died are not normal thoughts and usually suggest depression or some other illness which will benefit from treatment and assistance. Thoughts of how to end one’s life and making preparations or plans to do so are very serious. I urge people to talk to someone about such thoughts and actions. From my limited knowledge, when people recover from depression they cannot believe they had thoughts of wanting to kill themselves, and often want to help others through similar tough times.
Medical research confirms the vast majority of such deaths occur in people who have depression or who have suffered from other illnesses such as schizophrenia, panic attacks, alcohol or drug problems. If these illnesses had been treated, such deaths might well have been prevented in a significant number of cases.
While suicide and all the issues surrounding the act is bad enough, for every death from suicide it is estimated that there are 10 to 30 times as many attempted suicides or episodes of deliberate self-harm. People commit deliberate self-harm in an attempt to end their lives, but also in an attempt to simply seek oblivion or to be just out of it. It must be remembered that those who have attempted suicide are much more at risk than the rest of the population of eventually repeating the act - but dying on the next attempt. This is particularly the case for males who have unsuccessfully attempted suicide. It is estimated that 5% of such males will eventually die from suicide and 2% of women who have survived deliberate self-harm will eventually die from suicide.
I turn my attention now to the rural area in the Top End as it relates to this motion, and have some suggestions and recommendations for government to help and support people in need who are not currently receiving adequate support.
In the greater rural area, there are about 7000 young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years of age. Previously, I have stated the Territory has the highest level of suicide in the country, but what is less known is the Top End rural area has had an extraordinarily high suicide rate. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2010, show that the area known as the Litchfield Shire recorded figures well ahead of East Arnhem, Barkly, and Darwin city when it comes to suicides. While the figures give me - and I am sure everyone else - great reason for concern, what has to be remembered is caution should be exercised when reporting and interpreting suicide information.
The reliability of suicide statistics is affected by a number of different factors including under-reporting due to the nature of the act, differences in reporting methods across the territories and states, and the length of time it takes for coroners to process deaths that are reported as potential suicides. Taking these factors into consideration, it could be suggested the levels of suicide or attempted suicides are, in fact, much higher than recorded. What the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows also is the Territory is going against national trends; suicide deaths comprise a much higher proportion of total deaths in younger age groups compared with older age groups, and suicide rates are significantly higher in rural areas.
I will not talk about suicide rates in really rural or remote areas, as others have and will, in this debate. However, I can talk on the rural area outside Darwin. While I have no hard data tonight that can substantially confirm that more suicides occur in rural areas, there is a strong school of thought that suicides increase with rurality. The National Rural Health Alliance states that youths - they define it as 15 to 25 years - are 1.5 to 1.8 times more likely to suicide than their urban counterparts. The very remote areas are up to six times more likely to suicide. If that statistic is translated into the many remote communities in the Northern Territory, the outlook is grim, unless there is early intervention and support services.
Identification of a serious social and health issue such as suicide is real and needs to be addressed. However, I am not comfortable with the level of services or support that is being delivered in the rural area currently, such that people in need can be helped and supported. I have worked previously with the Bush Baptist Church people, also called The Gathering. I thank Sephyr Crook and Kelvia-Lee Johnson for the work they have done in highlighting youth issues in the rural area and the work to try to get a youth station. There are services available, but they are mostly based at Palmerston and the northern suburbs with little outreach services.
In the area of mental health support services, headspace Top End, based at Palmerston, targets 14- to 25-year-olds and provides many valuable services, but does not have a base in the rural area. Top End Mental Health Services provides specialist mental health services and, while there are some services to the rural area, it does not have a base there. TEAMHealth provides a recovery assistance program on an outreach basis but does not have a base in the rural area. Top End Mental Health Consumer Organisation provides consumer support and does have some services into the rural area but, again, does not have a base there. Other mental health teams provide services; these are mostly from the Tamarind Centre and the hospitals, but no services similar to these services are based in the greater rural area.
There are private medical people in the rural area; however, these are of a general practice nature and not targeted at, or for, youths specifically. Clearly, there are services available for people to access. However, there is minimal outreach service to the rural area and there is no youth-focused health service in the areas I and the member for Nelson - and probably the member for Daly - represent.
If the rural area outside of Darwin struggles with services and support from government and NGOs, what hope is there for the young people living in rural and remote areas? Public transport to and from the rural area needs improvements, particularly over weekends as that is the time when young people want to get out and about, enjoy their friends’ company and go places.
In supported accommodation, there is the Anglicare Youth Housing program and Health Connections for Youth, which caters and provides emergency and crisis accommodation for young people 15 to 20 years of age, and helps those based in the rural area. It does not have a base in the rural area, however. There is also an extensive waiting list for these services, and rural youth are required to travel to Palmerston to initially access the services. Again, health connections such as these are overworked and under-resourced.
The Bush Baptist Church, which I mentioned previously, is a group that provides emergency accommodation, food relief, and counselling. Their resources are stretched and they operate on limited grants and funds and a small band of volunteers.
Given the number of young people in the rural area, given the lack of mental health and youth services and activities, I am very concerned the statistics I have referred to might not change, and could even spiral downwards. We need to do more and we need to do it better. Government needs to stump up and start to put some proper services into the rural area, or support those who are in the position to provide such services to young people and other people in need.
The rural area desperately needs a youth drop-in centre or a youth station that can provide much-needed services such as crisis accommodation support, mentoring programs, and activities that are undertaken in a safe and secure environment. Currently, there are minimal activities or facilities for young people. There is a skate park at Humpty Doo Village Green and a small children’s playground, but that is about it. There is no pool, no water park, no real targeted youth activities, no skate competition no bass-in-the-bush, no ice rink at Christmas time, and no music concerts. Many of these activities are provided and funded by government in other parts of the Territory. It is time the government got serious about the rural area and investigated properly what needs to be done to address serious issues such as suicide.
It is an important public health and clinical issue. The costs and upheaval to families and communities is enormous and should never be underestimated. All of us know an action of suicide does not happen in isolation, and is affected by the social, economic and cultural context. There are factors which increase the risk of suicide in almost all settings, and there are factors that are particularly applicable to rural and remote people - the isolation, the lack of support services, late intervention, poor public transport, low social networking opportunities, and boredom. Then, there are issues such as loss of jobs, grief, domestic violence which, when coupled with the former factors, potentially leads to an explosive and, at times, tragic situation. Many times, people are at their wits end. However, because of the perceived stigma associated with mental health illnesses, much goes unreported, in addition to people not reaching out or calling out for help.
I also believe what happens in the rural and remote areas of the Territory, apart from what I have highlighted previously, is the services may exist in the urban centres and could be extended to the rural area; however, the geographical constraints make it difficult, if not impossible, to respond in times of need. The availability of services outside working hours may further be reduced because of the difficulty in sustaining on-call arrangements in large and spread-out areas such as we have in many parts of the Territory.
I am aware that the Menzies School of Health Research has undertaken research into youth suicide in the Territory. The author, Professor Sven Silburn, has had extensive experience in this area in Western Australia. The Children’s Commissioner knew this and commissioned the report. I understand the report is with the Children’s Commissioner, and I urge the government not to sit on the report, but release it into the public domain so we can learn and understand more about this social and mental health issue. We cannot afford to wait, as items in the report and recommendations may just save someone’s life.
In closing, I ask the government to seriously consider, and support and encourage, the establishment of a youth station in the rural area to provide much-needed services and support, and also to release the findings of the Menzies’ report as soon as practicable. I also thank the minister for bringing forward a motion in regard to this establishment of a select or sessional committee on youth suicides - probably long overdue, but I welcome it and look forward to further information in that regard, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the member for Nelson’s motion on youth suicide. I believe there is not one member in this Chamber whose life has not been touched by this issue. There are many of us who have family or friends who are still searching for answers. I was listening to the member for Nelson when he was talking and quoted Leonore Hanssens. I am not going to quote Leonore Hanssens, but what I am going to quote is a young psychology student who did her double degree - her honours degree - on psychology on the Tiwi Islands. Her honours thesis was called the Psycho-social Ideology of Alcohol and Cannabis Use and Non-use at Nguiu. At the time she did her honours degree, it was looking at the increasing rates of youth suicide or suicide amongst the Tiwi Islands. I should declare my interest in quoting this young psychologist’s report because that young psychologist is my daughter who did her honours degree when looking at this issue on the Tiwi Islands.
The reason why she looked at the Tiwi Islands was not because of our relationship with Tiwi - that being our people – but half of the population was under the age of 25. Going back to the 1980s and up to the 1990s, the rates of suicide on the Tiwi Islands was four times the national average. I remember when I lived on the Tiwi Islands from 1988 through to 1993, to live and work in my own home community, there were no answers to why these young people were committing suicide and we were burying the young people at the rate we were. At that time, it was only amongst many of our young men, but then the problem or the issue transferred across to many of our young women on the Tiwi Islands.
All the research people who went over - and there was a big influx on the island of researchers and other people to look at this important issue. I am not having a go at people researching, because it is important. Research is important because, through that research, we can at least get some answers. I remember trying to work with the community and researchers to try to make sense of all of this. It is hard to try to make sense, let alone the devastation and the grieving that is left for families long after the researchers and everyone has gone, where people still have not found those answers. It was certainly a harrowing ordeal living on the Tiwi Islands with my people to watch this happening, unfolding every single day.
What often intrigued me, I suppose, through all of this was the driving force where I went from working with land councils and local government into the health sector. I decided to study for a health economics degree whilst a single parent bringing up three children and working full-time. I went into the health field to start looking at how we can build better health services on the ground and communities to try to get young people or families access to better primary healthcare services - not just acute services, but all of those primary healthcare services that can go towards preventing many of these issues that were occurring, not just in the Tiwi Islands.
I then went from the Tiwi Islands to Katherine and spent about eight years working in and around Katherine and those rural communities, with those communities developing and establishing quite successful primary healthcare services so people could, through community control, change the course of what was happening on the ground in their communities. I went from the Tiwi Islands, and was just being absolutely devastated and gutted. I remember, through that whole time - because you cannot live and work in a community without being affected yourself by all of this death and grieving - having suffered with depression and feeling the same thoughts. However, I was able to work myself through it.
Still to this day, there are many families on the Tiwi Islands who have asked themselves why has this happened. Too many people say it is grog; it is alcohol and drug-related. That is true, but what we do not look at is that alcohol and drugs are the contributing factor to the end point of these young people’s lives. We do not look at what has been happening prior to that young person getting to that stage.
Many of those issues became clear for me, having worked with my own son through these issues in his darkest moments, where he scraped the bottom of the barrel with drug abuse and alcohol, then suffering those very dark days of depression and trying to stop him. I was on 24/7 alert every time that child walked out the door. Where is he going? Is he going to get a rope, or is something going to happen? As a parent, it is a very scary thing. I know many people have said that our parents do not care, but I have yet to see one parent - whether they are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal - who has not cared about this. The inability to be able to control, or to try to stop that child from doing it, sometimes, is taken out of their hands.
I saw that on the Tiwi Islands, in the Katherine region and, then, when I was elected, with the communities within western Arnhem Land. I saw the suicide rates at Maningrida and, as a local member, received the phone calls. As I said, I do not think there is any member who holds a bush seat who is not affected. When those phone calls come at all hours of the night, and you are talking to those families, you can hear the people wailing in the background because someone has committed suicide. That happened to me last week. It is just absolutely devastating as a local member, representing a constituency and feeling completely helpless and knowing we have to do more. All of us acknowledge yes, there are issues and, yes, we need to do better.
I often think about my good friend, Gwen. She and I have been mates for about 30 years. Our children grew up together. We were both single mothers bringing up our children and working together. Sitting down having a cup of tea one day, her youngest son came to her house and hugged his mother and said: ‘I really love you mum. You are the best mum, and thank you for everything that you have ever done in my life’. He was quite upbeat and happy, and she was happy that her son had hugged her. He then left. I remember getting a phone call at 1 am and I could not understand what she was saying. The first thing I said to her was: ‘Are you drunk? Have you been drinking?’ I had to listen closely as she could not speak properly because she was inconsolable. She had just had a phone call from the police where he was living near Daly River.
After he had hugged his mother and said goodbye, that she was the best mum in the world, and thanked her for everything she had done, he drove back to Daly River and went into his house and blew his brains out. That was 22 years ago, and there is not a day when my friend does not remember that day. Every time she hears of a suicide, it comes back and it affects her. She lives with that, I live with that, because I went through all of that, and I suppose it affected me just as much. I cannot imagine how she felt.
As a mother, I know that preventing my son from going down that road and that journey - and thank God we were able to steer him out of that. However, there are many parents who do not get that opportunity to do that. You watch and feel their grief because you cannot help, but when you see these families you cannot help but feel that grief. I feel that grief every time I have discussions with my friend. There is not a day when we do not have a discussion and she brings up her son - and that was 22 years ago. They say time heals all wounds. I do not think it heals. It just allows us to become less and less upset with it. The child a parent loses can never be replaced. I know it is hard for a child who has lost a parent. I would hate to be a parent who loses a child. It is incomprehensible in being able to articulate what that grief would be.
This issue should be - as I have said with child protection many times in the past - above politics. I agree totally with all the speakers who have spoken; we should not play politics with it. Those families I say are the survivors of all that - but are they surviving? They still need answers. It is imperative on us, as parliamentarians, as people elected to this parliament, to show that leadership. Politics cheapens the importance of what this issue is about. We need to show that leadership and to look at what some of those potential answers could be.
Much of it, I believe, is funding. I know the Chief Minister will raise that at COAG, because I believe it is important the Northern Territory gets its fair share, if not more, of the Commonwealth funding that has been earmarked for this project because of the nature of the Territory. When you look at our rates, which are four times the national average - and probably pretty much on the ball being four times the national average - it is concerning that the rates are high. I was listening to the Chief Minister’s speech when he was giving the comparisons between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and it is scary. It is confronting that it is not just an Aboriginal issue; it is across all races.
None of us have the high moral ground or moral ownership of this. All of our youth in the Territory, regardless of colour, creed, or religion, need us to be able to unite and look at this issue in a bipartisan way. We have had committees; we can deal with issues in a bipartisan way. We have shown that about child protection in the past because it is important to put certain issues above politics. The rates of youth suicide, or what is happening with our youth, needs to be beyond politics. We need to come together to look at this most important issue and not use it as an exercise to finger point at either government - the Northern Territory or the Commonwealth - but to come up with something of substance.
When we think of all those families who are suffering or who have been affected by youth suicide, we need to look beyond our own egos and the cheap politics that we might get out of this, and remember those families and young people who need us to move beyond the petty politics. For once, let us come forward with something of substance so we can prevent these rates from increasing any more than they have.
I look forward to looking at this issue. I have talked about this at different times and I know that most of my colleagues on this side have talked about this issue. It is an issue that impacts on all of us. The member for Macdonnell has raised this issue, as well as the member for Nelson and another member on the Country Liberal Party side. Let us all get together; let us work towards trying to make the Northern Territory a better place for our young people.
We need to look at the major issue of coping because this is where our young men and some of the young women find it very hard. The coping skills that are required in relationships are often not there. Some of that is attributed to family breakdowns, as we know, but we need to strengthen those families so those young people can build that resilience many of our young people have. This is not just about Aboriginal kids; it is also about non-Aboriginal kids; it is about all of our children and our young people in the Northern Territory.
Before I finish, I acknowledge the young Chair of the Youth Round Table. I was saying to the Minister for Young Territorians how heartened I was when I went to the Youth Round Table on Saturday. I thank you and your members. I told the minister, in all the years I have been in this parliament, and every Youth Round Table meeting I have attended, I have encountered the level of intellect, debate and discussion and wisdom that happens amongst our young people there. I thank all of those young people and thank you as the chair, for that discussion we had on Saturday.
The important project the Youth Round Table is embarking on is looking at youth suicide in the Northern Territory, which is an important thing to do. I thank all of those members of the Youth Round Table for the discussion and sharing their thoughts ...
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I thank the Chief Minister for that extension of time. I am just about finished.
When the member for Nelson first flagged this motion wanting to talk about this, I am like many families in the Northern Territory - you do not want to talk about this issue. It is a harrowing issue to talk about. It is easy to get quite teary and feel that raw emotion about that loss. However, it is better to turn that emotion into action and to actually do something. When we look at all of those deaths that have happened in the Northern Territory, we can prevent them. We can look at how we can get the systems responding better than they are.
I know, just from my own daughter’s experience - and many psychologists like her who are working in this field are caring - there is not a day I do not look at the burden she carries on her shoulders. She is one of three Aboriginal conditional psychologists in the Northern Territory, and the only one in the Top End who has to look after most of the remote communities, as well as Katherine and Batchelor, and some of our regions. It is a massive job, but it is a job she thoroughly loves, otherwise she would not be in it. Why would you want to be in it? I often say to her that what she carries is worse than I carry, and she is my hero. I admire the struggles and the energy she has working with many of the families and people she does, and to remain as optimistic as she does in all of this. I suppose, if you work in that field, the one thing you have to maintain is that optimism that when you are working with people you can make them better. If you can get a good outcome and prevent people from sliding further and further down the scale, that is a good thing.
Madam Speaker, I support the member for Nelson’s motion. It is an important motion. It would be fantastic to get support from the CLP for the Health Minister’s amendment to that motion, because there are members of the CLP who are just as concerned about this issue. We need to come together as a parliament to look at this, because this is about our future - and our youth are our future. We should come together and work together to try to get the best outcomes for those youths. It is memory of the ones who have gone that makes it imperative for us to be able to get the outcomes for their families, and to try to get a better system for future families.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I support the motion brought to this House by the member for Nelson, and congratulate, and say thank you to the government and to the Minister for Health for putting the amendment to the member for Nelson’s motion, because it is a serious issue. I believe we have the ability in this House, as elected members, not to bring politics into it, but to work as parents, as aunties, as uncles, and grandparents, to help the next generation of children, both black and white, not be successful in doing the things our past children have done.
While the member for Arafura was talking, the member for Nelson brought to my attention, if you have a look at the figures on both sides, it is nearly equal between non-Indigenous and Indigenous where this is happening. In the past, you would not have seen the statistics so high amongst Indigenous people, so something is going terribly wrong. That data and that journey show us that something is very wrong in our remote Aboriginal communities and within our Indigenous society in towns like Darwin, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
Maybe some of the areas that we can have a look at - and I know that the minister for Education is keen to have a look at things like that - is do some assessment through the education system. We know the children who are struggling in the schools. We know which children come from broken homes, children who have behavioural problems, children who have been adopted by the community members, who might not have parents or might have parents who are living elsewhere, abusing alcohol or drugs. I believe that is where we can start to see the journey and track these children through the education system to ensure they do not get to the end result of what we have seen happen and we are talking about today.
I totally agree with what the member for Arafura has said; it is not about sensationalising anything, and the media needs to be very aware of this as well. This is a very sensitive issue; we are not talking about live cattle. We are talking about our children - whether it be our nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces, sons, or whatever. It does have a lasting impact, not just on the immediate family, but on the whole community. If you are living on a small outstation, that whole outstation is impacted by something as tragic as this.
We are seeing our young kids doing this, and they are brave. Some of the issues I will highlight are within the Indigenous population. My nephew committed suicide three weeks ago. I received a call while I was here in parliament from my young sister, who is now being blamed by my other sister, the mother of the child, because she was there when it happened. Both these adults need counselling. My sister who lost a child needs to understand, from a professional point of view, the other young sister did not have anything to do with it - she just came out and saw it - so you do not have the animosity in that family being carried on forever and ever when there is such a tragedy in the family.
You see it all the time - with the two losses I have had. That is why I go to the issue of tracking their families. Both of them come from parents who both drink, or have one but not the other drinking. These kids are feeling hopeless and they want to be loved, so they create friendships with anyone because that friendship determines where they sleep and who gives them food that night, and who they can walk around with at night. They are all the issues we need to embrace and try to investigate, and get the right material to educate all our people and communities.
It is a serious issue to see. The minister said it is equal number recorded, but Aboriginal people have come further. We have not seen this happening in Aboriginal people before. It is now equal to the non-Indigenous population of the Northern Territory. That has to be a huge concern to us, as Territorians.
We have heard members from both sides of the House in this parliament tonight talk about their personal issues and asking each other to come together as elected members, as concerned politicians, as politicians driving the Northern Territory to be a positive place rather than a negative place through suicides and antisocial behaviour through alcoholism and drugs. I was upstairs listening to the contribution made by the Chief Minister. This is a call for us to unite as a parliament and drive this agenda. The Chief Minister will be going to talk to the Prime Minister to ask if we can get an extra boost in financial assistance to the Northern Territory to address this issue because this is a real concern.
We are talking about young kids; we are talking about our families. There has to be something terribly wrong in these children’s lives. It is a fact that probably low schooling, not really educated to hold a job, mums and dads drinking, mums and dads not at home contributing, so they just live around the houses with other people.
Footy is one way, and we have seen that with Clontarf. One of the other things the Minister for Central Australia might talk to the Chief Minister about is we have Clontarf extended to some of the communities so it can pick up some of our kids in remote Aboriginal communities and put them through that program so we can see these kids developing into good Territorians - kids who contribute to society, who love themselves, who are loved by their parents, and who are loved by their communities. It is about nurturing, and this nurturing has to come from all of us. We might not be the aunties, uncles, and mums, but we need to tell children always that we love them so they can grow into being healthy, educated, working Territorians, contributing to society rather than being at the bottom of the socioeconomic indicator, always struggling in life to do anything, and looking around to see where they get their next feed from, and who would give them a lift from community to town. That is all the reassurances we could give them.
Madam Speaker, we have seen acceptance and support for this motion in this House this evening, and I thank the member for Nelson for bringing this motion to the House.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support the motion introduced by the member for Nelson, and also support the amendment moved by the Minister for Health.
I agree with the member for Arafura in that this is not something anyone should try to make political points on. It should be an absolutely apolitical matter. It is a matter of great concern to all of us in this House and the entire community. I echo a couple of words the Chief Minister said and the fact he was not aware that 72% of people who suicide are unemployed. Also, a comment made by the member for Nelson, that the number of people who suicide is 40% greater than the road toll. That is alarming when you look at the advertising campaigns for road safety, the first aid courses they encourage people to go to so you can save lives on the side of the road – or anywhere, not necessarily in road accidents.
As a community, it behoves us to do everything we can to ensure that all people - not just young people or Aboriginal people, other nationalities, or regardless of where you come from – are able to access services and get help when they need it.
The problem is, quite often, the community can provide assistance; however, people get themselves into such a position where they do not realise they need assistance. I am sure there are people in this room who can relate to that. When you get yourself into a situation and a very good friend or a professional comes along and says you probably might need a hand to do something - and it is not just in relation to emotional things, it is physical things as well.
I have attended far too many accidents brought on by people driving cars into walls, trees and other objects in my former life as a police officer. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with suicides - the hangings, the gassings and the firearm suicides. It brings home very vividly the horror, tragedy, and trauma suicide brings, not only to those who have to deal with it, but more so to the families and those left behind who have to deal with the emotional wreckage that is put upon families when these things occur.
Suicide is something many people do not want to talk about. As the member for Arafura quite rightly pointed out, in all parts of our society not many people actually want to talk about suicide. That is probably the very reason why we should.
What about seniors? I have seen some figures recently - I cannot recall them – of the number of seniors over 75 who commit suicide each week. Where is the counselling for them? There are other issues that older people face that younger people do not. It is bad enough we have older people who have lived perhaps the greater portion of their life suiciding, but we have young people who are just beginning their journey who find life so difficult and find themselves in situations where they believe the only way out is to take their own life.
Many of these problems they have revolve around relationships, and not just with the opposite sex but relationships with all people in the community - their parents, the person at the shops, their peers at school, peers in the workplace, and people generally in the community. If they do not have good relationships and they are feeling down, we need, as a community, to provide services to these people.
I know the government has tried and the previous CLP government has tried. Everyone tries in this because there is a genuine desire on all sides of politics, including the Independents, that this is an issue which should be at the forefront of our minds. It takes so many lives and, as we quite often say: ‘What a waste of a good life!’ We should be out there doing everything we can to ensure that services are there for a whole range of people. People ask: ‘Why?’, and this is something that the member for Arafura also said. People often ask: ‘Why?’ When you go to funerals, when you go to investigate these things, people will simply ask: ‘Why?’ They are truly perplexed as to what happened.
I will use an example that is pretty close to home. Unfortunately, a number of years ago, I lost a brother-in-law. I went to his funeral and everyone was standing around saying: ‘How did this happen? Why did this happen?’ When you dug deeper and you asked people when you spoke to them: ‘Did you notice anything?’ This is when it really hit home for me. There were probably about 10 or 15 people I spoke to at my brother-in-law’s funeral, and they all told similar stories: ‘I noticed something unusual; just a small thing’. They said it was so strange it was slightly out of character. When you stand around in a circle and these people are all telling their little stories that were unusual, by the time you get to the 10th person and you still have five to go, the alarm bells are ringing in that circle with all the people. Suddenly, there is a collective realisation that all those things added up to the fact that a man was in trouble, but no one identified it.
When we investigated further, we found out that no one wanted to talk about it, no one has talked about it in their upbringing, parents did not really want to talk about, and the blokes down the pub do not want to talk about it. I do know that women talk about it a lot in their groups. However, when you are in mixed company, no one seems to want to talk about it. That has been changing over recent years, and it is probably time - it is well overdue - we actually do that.
The same words come to mind that I mentioned earlier today in this House; that is, early intervention. One thing my mother taught me was that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I know they translate to kilograms these days, but that is what my mother used to say to me. I have never forgotten it. The other old adage that worked is a stitch in time saves nine. If you get in early and you fix these things, you do not have the problem at the end of it. Unfortunately, in some cases, it is a tragic problem.
The early intervention programs are essential for the government to implement and for oppositions to support wholeheartedly. There are a number of early intervention programs out there, and I have been fortunate enough to do a couple of them. One such program is the suicide first aid program. In my wallet, I carry a little card. Every time I forget about things, or I am sitting somewhere waiting for an appointment, and am going through my wallet trying to look for something, I pull this bit of paper out and read it. It enlightens me to the fact that I should be aware of those around me and look for the signs. If we are all educated in what to look for - and that is what suicide first aid is about: being able to identify all those little things that separately do not mean much but, collectively, ring alarm bells to say that someone is in trouble.
I have dealt with many people who have been suicidal and, with some of them, you would never pick it. With some of them, it is difficult to understand where they are at. Some people are quiet, some people are noisy, some people are seeking attention and, in that attention is a massive cry for help. However, there are those who we do not know and are not calling out for help. Sometimes, they are the most troubled and the most difficult to pick. If a community is unaware and uneducated as to what to look for, then we will continue to struggle to save the lives of, especially young people, but middle-aged people, other people, people on the land, farmers.
What we do not see in the paper is the number of suicides that occur. It is the policy of most newspapers that I am aware of, that they do not advertise each week how many people have committed suicide. They do not make great stories out of it because it is not something they want to sensationalise. They do not want copy cats and there is a whole range of reasons why they do not. However, it is just the decency of not allowing people to get too depressed about what is happening to other people. What they do is encourage people to seek help in these matters.
We cannot escape the fact that there are way too many suicides. We cannot get away from the fact that Aboriginal youth, especially Aboriginal males, are over-represented in this statistic. The Chief Minister quoted 232 suicides in five years – obviously, 232 too many. How do we get that figure down and what, as a community, do we do to come together, to work together, to reduce that number? One would hope that we can reduce it to zero, and that should be our target. I fear, though, that we cannot have a perfect result and we might not get to anywhere near that. We can, if we educate people to understand what the symptoms are, what to look for, and continue to educate our people as we go through.
We talk about all the issues in our community of health, education, law and order. They are the three pillars of community. We spend much time and effort as parents, as a community, as governments and oppositions, working towards improving the lot for those who we seek to represent well. However, there comes a time when, if someone suicides, all of that effort counts for nothing, because that poor person does not have the ability to enjoy what we claim is the great lifestyle, not only in the Territory, but in Australia. To get in that position and that sort of feeling is a tragedy, so we should work hard.
How do we do that? I acknowledge that the Northern Territory government is doing things in schools. There is a program called Mind Matters, there are wellbeing officers in the workplace. It is such an important issue we should not neglect it. I feel sure the member for Nelson, in moving this motion, and I quote part (a) of his motion: ‘the alarming number of youth suicides in the Northern Territory’. We are concentrating on youth suicide here, but that is not to forget our seniors and others in our community.
Schools, for instance, is where the youth group we are looking at predominantly in the amendment are - 17 to 25 years. I would like to see any committee look at the situation of middle schools. We lose far too many kids in middle schools. There are young people in Years 11 and 12 who commit suicide. Tragic! How do they get there? Probably a lack of understanding of what is available to them, and of those in their peer groups, teachers, other professionals, who would benefit from further and ongoing training in suicide first aid. I recall, as a school-based police officer, spending many a time working through some of these issues with youth in schools to the point where they sought help. We got them some professional help. The early intervention that I talk about is about teachers being aware. It is about school nurses, support staff, specialised staff in the school, and especially school-based police officers.
Some of the issues I spoke about earlier today were about making young people feel comfortable, keeping anxiety levels down and making schools and their environment a good place to be. We have heard people in this House speak about some of the horrific circumstances young people find themselves in, in their homes, in their communities, and that is tragic. However, when it leads to one of those people taking their life, that is even more tragic. We have to try to insulate those people from the area where they get themselves to where they can justify taking their own life. How do we do that? Again, we strengthen programs in schools where people can identify those things. I go back to school-based police officers, who can identify some of these people who are suffering at the hands of the bullies - the people who intimidate them not only physically, but mentally with cyber bullying, the peer pressure that is put on them - and actually stand up for some of these young people’s rights and give them the confidence to stand up against those people so they do not go to those dark places where the thoughts of suicide have their seeds. We have to work hard on that and strengthen those programs, not weaken them or take them away.
We talk about the causes of suicide. In many instances, it is a fear, rejection, or depression caused by high anxiety levels. When people get to that point, it is one of the drivers that sends people into alcohol and other drugs. Quite often, the first thing is the smoking, then it is into alcohol, then it is a quick step into marijuana, and then you are on your way. Not everyone goes onto the hard drugs, or some of the drugs that do rapid harm. However, we are all aware of some of the horrific consequences from long-term drug abuse of any drug. Anything we can do in schools to teach young people about drug abuse and give them the strength and confidence to say ‘no’, to get out there into the wide world and be able to survive knowing there are people on their side, is good.
The other aspect is seniors. We also need to have programs within the community to assist our seniors to get through some of those challenging issues that come with ageing years. We go back to the fact that the question that is asked is: ‘How did this happen?’, and no one wants to talk about it. I am grateful for people in this House who stood up and related stories about what is going on in their own communities. I am grateful there appears to be support for this on both sides of this House.
Madam Speaker, I commend the government for supporting the motion and supporting the amendment. I agree, and I believe most people on this side of the House will support the motion. I commend the motion to the House.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for bringing forward this important issue for the Northern Territory. Youth suicide is an issue that, for far too long, has not been given the attention it needed.
I also join the Leader of the Opposition in acknowledging the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who have lost a loved one to suicide. It is a tragic and terrible thing for families to go through. As members have all said in their contributions, the question ‘why? is asked by family members in the years after they lost that loved one. I acknowledge the hurt and the pain those families go through on a daily basis.
As a Territorian, a local with a large extended family throughout the Territory, it is an issue I, like many other members, have had to deal with personally. It is very difficult to lose someone so close; be it a niece or a nephew. With a large extended family in the bush, unfortunately, this seems to be a regular occurrence - the sorry business we have to go through after losing a loved one to suicide.
Few of us in this House contemplated when we decided to run for public office that we would be talking to a motion dealing with the terrible issue of suicide. In my five years in parliament, this is an issue that has not been given the attention or come before the House and members in the way of a motion we have before us tonight.
Many members have quoted numerous statistics and they are all alarming. It clearly demonstrates there has been a great crisis in suicide deaths in our community, particularly over the last eight or nine years, but preceding that. The statistics can be bandied around, but the important thing is what we have before us with the motion in showing leadership. As a local member over the last five years, I had many approaches by constituents in Alice Springs and from remote communities in my electorate office wanting help to deal with either preventing a loved one heading down that track of committing suicide or having to deal with a loss after it has happened.
The causes are numerous. Members through this debate have brought to the House many possible causes of why this may happen. We heard things such as alcohol and drugs, mental health issues, remoteness, unemployment, poverty, welfarism - the list goes on. The important thing the House needs to focus on now is the motion before us, particularly the amendment by the minister. We need to act fairly quickly on that in a select committee of the Assembly. Given the urgency, given the silent crisis that has been going on in the Northern Territory, it has to be treated as a matter of urgency.
I have talked to quite a few constituents over the last five years having to deal with this issue of suicide. I have been talking to the Children’s Commissioner, Dr Howard Bath, and looking at the annual report 2009-10 of the NT Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee, and I am aware of the study that Menzies has done looking at the trends and what research has been undertaken. I believe this report, this study, is going to be a critical tool for the committee in putting forward some recommendations urgently to this parliament. The report and the study will come back to all of us with the key intervention options and recommendations. In talking to the Children’s Commissioner, he is thankful, I suppose, that this has been brought to the attention of parliament and is also looking for some leadership from us in considering solutions.
As a local member, I have been working on a couple of projects which I acknowledge, which are getting us on to the right track in helping some of these solutions come forward. I particularly acknowledge Ian McAdam and Shaun Cusack, both Aboriginal men from Central Australia currently working in the Clontarf program in Alice Springs. We have been talking for some time and they have put some ideas on paper for me. I have had the opportunity to mention that to minister Macklin. Their program is looking at focusing on the 18- to 25-year-old men in Alice Springs. Through the statistics we have heard tonight, this is the at-risk group we are talking about - the young urban Indigenous and the non-Indigenous males, particularly a bit older 30- to 50-year-old age. But the 18- to 25-year-olds are certainly slipping through the gaps and the Tjaiya-rratja program - Arrernte for Right Tracks - is something I am willing to work closely on with Ian and Shaun. I urge colleagues, if they are in Alice Springs, to talk to these local men about their program. Regarding solutions, the program they have presented to me really does provide some opportunities.
Other people I will acknowledge are, I suppose, on the front line dealing with some of the issues that we have talked about in suicide prevention particularly. The Strong Bulla organisation in Katherine is a group consisting of local Indigenous men and people from the non-government organisations and the health alliances in Katherine providing strong support, particularly for Indigenous men in the Katherine region. They do a fantastic job. More support for these types of groups is vital, and something the committee should also consider. There is also the Congress men’s unit with Baden Williams and Johnny Liddle, the crew in Alice Springs, who do a fantastic job as well in helping prevent suicides and supporting men in Alice Springs.
Looking to the motion, particularly the amendment, we know there is a plethora of programs and dollars out there already. We know the Northern Territory Suicide Prevention Action Plan is coming to a conclusion this year. Because of that, this motion is even more timely, understanding that a formal review of the Northern Territory Suicide Prevention Action Plan will take place at the end of this year and will involve consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. It is very timely that we have this motion before the House. I am sure this select committee will play a key role in that review.
Regarding this motion, an example of this plethora of programs and dollars we have seen come through the Northern Territory - and it is probably not the best example – is one of the areas I have been concerned about particularly, the Safe Places program for men funded by the Commonwealth, through the Northern Territory. There are nine throughout the Northern Territory. We talk about the target group and the most at-risk group in the suicide statistics we see.
I welcome the committee and the work they are going to be doing, because I am concerned as I am aware there are five of these men’s Safe Places that are currently closed and have no staff working in them. I checked that up today; two of those are in my electorate. They include the Yuendumu men’s Safe Place, the one at Aputula, and the one at Pmara Jutuntanear Ti Tree.
These types of program play a vital role, particularly in that risk group of men we are talking about in remote communities. To have these Safe Places not operating and closed is very worrying. There are also two in the Top End at Angurugu and Ramingining. I ask the minister to look into that because there is a plethora of money and programs out there. One of the things the committee needs to look at - and it is great that it is there - is how effective these programs are.
We are not talking about extra dollars all the time. I believe we can do better with the programs we have. The unfortunate thing is - I think the member for Macdonnell mentioned it - the latest one in my electorate was a young fellow from Yuendumu who committed suicide. What role could that men’s Safe Place have played in that young man’s life if it was open and operating, and doing what it was meant to do? My bush colleagues would have a frustration with the continual rates of suicide in our remote communities - and the statistics are there. I urge the select committee to look at that. It is not always about extra dollars; it is about how effective the dollars and the programs are out there. I was particularly concerned about that. Then, to hear about the death of this young man from Yuendumu distressed me greatly.
Madam Speaker, I will not talk much longer. I also acknowledge the beyondblue organisation. They do some great work in the Northern Territory. I acknowledge our representative from the Northern Territory, Dr Steven Larkin, who is one of the Directors of beyondblue. Organisations such as the AFLNT have some great programs to support suicide prevention, and also in our Indigenous communities.
I also acknowledge the people from the Mental Health Association in Alice Springs. They are doing some fantastic things. I love their motto: ‘Enjoy regular exercise, take one thing at a time, and share a laugh with friends’. Looking through what they deliver in their programs and services, there is a huge number of programs and services out there. That is why it is timely with this motion; we are reviewing the Suicide Action Prevention Plan. We need to ask serious questions on why it is not working. If the statistics of suicide rates are getting worse, then the committee needs to show leadership and really ask the hard questions. It is great there is bipartisan support for this. It is very timely, and it addresses such an urgent matter for the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, in closing, I again thank the member for Nelson for bringing this forward. I impress upon the House strongly that what we are agreeing on today can really save lives. It is important that we need to act quickly. The work of the parliamentary select committee is about saving lives and, as parliamentarians, we probably would not have thought about that when we first came in. We have a unique, bipartisan opportunity to play a key role in saving people’s lives, particularly our young people.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I support the motion put forward by the member for Nelson, and the amendment by the Minister for Health, on this very serious problem of suicide in our community.
You cannot talk about suicide without talking about mental health, and mental health is an area in which I have worked extensively over the years. My career as a social worker started in the mid-1980s. I was appointed to a position as a psychiatric social worker at a mental health unit. One of my jobs was to be on an on-call crisis service. In those days, the mobile telephones we used were the size of a small esky, so we would lug these big things around all weekend whilst on call. I remember, on many occasions, being called out in the middle of the night - as a young woman really not knowing myself very well - and having to assist different people who were clearly distressed and in a highly suicidal state.
In those days, there was not much literature on suicide, or the resources and understanding of suicide as there is now. Much of what we did 25 years ago was flying by the seat of our pants to a large extent. We were taught to look at things very much in a psychiatric framework, which has changed over the years. If someone was suicidal years ago, they were diagnosed as psychotic, depressed, or neurotic. We now know that is simply not the case. Those diagnoses are very unhelpful and do not reflect what is happening in our community when it comes to suicide.
When we talk about mental health, we talk about what it is for a human being to feel settled, safe, and stable within their own skin. What we see in our community, all too often, are people walking around the streets and living an existence which lacks true meaning, self-esteem, self-respect, dignity and, above all, purpose. Many people do not wake up in the morning and have any meaning or purpose to their lives, which we all know. We have all said this evening in many different ways, this makes people feel disconnected with the world and their surroundings, from their families and from society.
It is interesting, a girlfriend of mine contacted me earlier this week. She somehow heard along the grapevine that we would be speaking about suicide this week. She knew the young man at Yuendumu who died recently who took his own life, and she expressed her deep grief over the loss of that young man’s life. She had a personal connection to him. She drew my attention to the recent London riots and an article in The Australian that appeared on 13 August 2011. She drew a parallel between what she interpreted as the problems she sees in different communities throughout the Northern Territory and her understanding and what she had read of what was happening in London. She sent me the article, and it talked about disenfranchised youth, about a state of welfarism and social fragmentation, and about an imploded community where people felt a loss of control and a sense of powerlessness and impotency. It concluded by saying:
I like that, not just because it talks about government policy, but it also talks about responsibility and allowing people to have a say in their community, and encouraging them to have a stake in their community which is very important.
As the shadow for Child Protection, I feel an obligation to talk about the connection that exists between child abuse, neglect, and suicide. The literature is overwhelming. There is a very strong connection, particularly between child sexual abuse and the risk of suicide. An article from ABC news online, illustrates this. It is an article about a new study of victims of child sexual abuse saying they are at a much higher risk of committing suicide or dying from an accidental drug overdose when they become adults. The study revealed that people who are sexually abused as a child are 18 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, and 49 times more likely to die from an accidental drug overdose.
Those figures are staggering. I guess there is much more literature and research which says the same thing. If you have had - and this has been said by numerous people in the room tonight – a hard, difficult childhood, if you are abused or neglected, if there is some sort of trauma in your childhood, then the risk of you going on to attempt suicide or commit suicide is very high.
The Little Children are Sacred report attempted to identify the enormous problem of child sexual abuse - not just the problem itself, but that the implications of what child sexual abuse does to the human psyche and the human soul is extensive, it is pervasive, it is there forever. The Little Children are Sacred report could be interpreted as not just a guide of how we might address the problem of child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory, but it also could be used as a guide for how we proceed in identifying ways of resolving or addressing the problem of youth suicide in the Northern Territory.
We all know the strategies that were outlined in the Little Children are Sacred report. We all know they were about very concrete things as much as anything - about housing, education, health, pornography, and alcohol reform, and all those things we talk about every day in parliament. As the member for Sanderson said - and other people also said it, but it resonated with me when the member for Sanderson said it - prevention is better than cure. If we prevent the child abuse from occurring, if we prevent these children from having a traumatic lifestyle, we are halfway there to resolving the problem of youth suicide.
Madam Speaker, I will not continue for much longer. We are all reading from the same page; we are all singing from the same song sheet. Suicide is a huge problem in our community; it is not going to go away easily. A combined effort in showing and demonstrating to the people of the Northern Territory we are very serious about this issue is definitely the best way forward. I commend the motion to the House and the amendment. I congratulate the member for Nelson for bringing it forward.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased so many people, on both sides of parliament, have made the effort to put forward their views on this serious subject. I must admit - it might have been the last words spoken by the member for Araluen and she reminded me the member for Sanderson said it - prevention is better than cure - I could not agree more.
I have said before in this parliament that early intervention needs to be a key objective of government. We know this from work done in schools where children are seen to be at risk of going off the rails. I believe there has been some work done in Queensland schools where teachers have been trained to see that young people are having problems at school, and are able to then be proactive, and go and talk to the family about some of the issues, find out what the problems are. This was in relation to some statistics that showed if this child kept going the way they were, they would end up in prison. It always came back to me that if you spend $1 now, you would save something like $100 later. Surely, this is the same thing; prevention is better than cure. I believe that is something that should be the motto of this group.
I understand where the member for Sanderson was coming from in relation to seniors, and I am not in any way denigrating what he was saying. However, the motion is about young people. Sometimes, young people do not feel they are loved. They have no one to talk to if relationships have broken down and families have fallen apart - and we live in an age where the divorce rate is extremely high. You wonder why people are pushing to get married when the divorce rates are so high. We have to do a great deal more work when it comes to parenting; giving skills to people to try to provide the skills that would mean the family would be a happy and secure place for young people to be. They need to know that when they are with their family they are not going to be abused.
I was interested in what the member for Araluen was saying about the link between child sexual abuse and suicide. I believe that is an issue we cannot stay away from. I have never been a social worker so it is always interesting to hear people in the business talk about issues I do not really know about. One thing that comes out of this select committee will, I believe, be an education process for many people who are, I suppose, scared to look at this issue because it can be frightening. When we start to look at the issues, it may be more frightening.
One of the key things we need to look at is how we can prevent it. That does not mean we will not look at the other issues about helping people who are at risk. How do we look at other issues such as unemployment or welfare? The member for Blain spoke on welfare. The member for Casuarina spoke passionately about welfare. We are able to send a message to Canberra, as a unified parliament, that we think welfare is the scourge of our society, and we are taking away the dignity of human beings by giving them the only choice for not working is welfare. I agree with the member for Casuarina; we have only 200 000 people in the Northern Territory, we have this huge land mass – why do we have people on welfare? It is not as if we are a little island where there is nothing much to do and we ran out of space and jobs. Surely, in the Northern Territory we can find things to do?
We have to, somehow, show young people they have a worth; their lives are worthy of living, and we want to know about them; that they are not just a number, not just someone who lives out bush or in town and no one cares about them. Parliament has an opportunity to send a message out that all people are worthy of love and respect.
We also have to ensure the tools are out there for those people to be able to use the talents everyone is given to contribute to this world we live in. It is so sad when I walk around and see young people - and I say young, between 20 and 30. I see them in the morning. I come to Darwin early in the morning and I see some Aboriginal men walking past and I think: ‘What a waste’. Probably from the good Lord’s point of view, they are all human beings the good Lord loves but, from an earthly point of view, you feel there is a waste of humanity going past.
How can we ensure every person who is born contributes to our society in a meaningful way? Suicide is the total opposite to that. To me, if we can change the attitudes of our society, if we can even save a few lives, at least that is something. I hope we can save many more than a few lives. We need to make the effort. If we do not at least try - and I would be the first to say sometimes select committees and committees can issue reports that disappear into the ether, sit on shelves - then I would be worried. However, members of both sides of this House have said tonight there is a serious issue and we need to do something about it.
I should also say let us not forget all those good people out there working. I come here as a non-expert; I have no great knowledge about suicide except to say it came home to me very much from a suicide in Bees Creek about 15 years ago. A young woman of about 30 years old killed herself one evening or afternoon. Her husband came home from work in Darwin - a very intelligent man. This was a French couple. People knew he was going to be a risk and they tried to help him to get him through the grief. He killed himself on the Sunday. I went to that funeral. I come from a religious background. That funeral was the emptiest funeral I have ever attended. There were no prayers. A few family members came out from France. It was like a cessation; like there was no hope. It was very sad.
The member for Casuarina mentioned that some churches do not recognise a person who has committed suicide. I hope that has changed in my church. I do not believe we make judgments about one person’s worth or whether they were good or bad; that will be for someone else to decide. I hope that is not the case, at least in my church. If we still believe in the dignity of the human, no matter how they died, we should treat them that way. I will be checking, but I hope that is not the case in my church.
Madam Speaker, I thank everyone for their contributions. I have written down a list of ideas people have put forward. In reality, those are the ideas I hope will come out of the contribution of members of the committee, from the people they talk to. I am listening to what people have said about various reports. I hope we could get some of those authors. I mentioned Leonore Hanssens from the Charles Darwin University who has been a researcher there; the member for Araluen mentioned some other people. We need to get as many people with the knowledge as possible, but I also think it is an absolute that you have to sit down with the right people, so the right people can give you the right information.
We discussed this in our office yesterday. There would be nothing worse than a committee to walk in and think you are going to have a public meeting on suicide. That is not going to work. You need to be putting out the feelers about who you should talk to. You might have two or three groups of people - it might be the men, might be youth, might be mothers, it might be whatever. It is not for me to say, but we need to be really conscious if we are going into remote communities that we deal with the people the right way so we can get the right information. If it means you sit in the dirt, so be it – I do not have a problem with sitting on the lawn. It is such a sensitive issue the committee has to be aware it has to be done in an appropriate way. The same if you are dealing with people in Darwin.
We have heard about the pain and suffering of the people whose loved ones have passed away in these circumstances; how much they still suffer today. It is going to be a very sensitive topic for this committee. The member for Macdonnell has said she would be the Independent member, and that is great. There is an opportunity here. In the history of this place, it is meant to be adversarial, I understand that. However, this issue is bringing people together who have issues, sometimes, politically. In this case, the issue is far greater than politics; it is far more important. It is great to hear that people will come together on this committee to come up with a solution.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing forward the amendment. I thank both sides of parliament for their contribution and support of this amended motion. I wish the committee well. We are thin on the ground when it comes to supplying members for committees. I know some of the members of the government work very hard on existing committees and have now taken on a role in a new committee. It is not going to be easy for them, but this is a very worthwhile task they are taking on. I hope when they come back to this parliament we have conclusions and recommendations that will really make a difference, because that is what we have to have from this committee. I do not think we want another report that quotes the statistics - not that they are not important - but how we are going to lower the statistics. That is what we need to have come out of this. I am very interested to see what happens.
Thank you, everyone, for contributing. I hope the committee will come back to this parliament with some real recommendations that will make a difference.
Madam SPEAKER: There are two questions before the Chair. The first is the motion as moved by the member for Nelson, and the second is the amendment as moved by the Minister for Health.
Amendment agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Speaker. I move that –
(a) hay and fodder production;
Agriculture in the north is intrinsically linked to the fortunes and future of the cattle industry. Both industries have a vital independence. Hay and fodder producers, feed millers, seed producers, contractors, transport operators, and mixed farming enterprises all play a part in northern cattle industry. The fodder industry is a vital component of the live cattle trade and essential in the welfare and marketing of cattle in the Northern Territory.
The fodder industry extends from the Barkly Tablelands to the Sturt Plateau, through the Katherine-Daly basin, and into the Darwin rural area. It is undertaken by many small family operations, corporate companies, and Indigenous organisations. It employs hundreds of people directly and indirectly and is a major supporter of local agribusinesses such as machinery, mechanical services, contractors, fertilisers, seed, and agrichemical businesses.
The total value of fodder produced in the Top End of the Northern Territory is over $30m when transport, milling, and value-adding is considered. The fodder trade has virtually stopped since the interim ban was announced in early June this year. The agricultural industry and mixed farmers of the Darwin and Katherine-Daly basin and surrounding regions have been hit especially hard.
Many businesses are both cattle and hay producers, with the result that these people have been hit doubly hard by not being able to move or sell cattle or hay, despite having substantial production costs. Most have already let many staff go, including family members, many of whom will be lost to the industry. The ban coincided with the time of year at which all hay producers and feed mills rely on sales and income. This has resulted in a dire situation for the industry and individual family businesses.
Individual producers have already incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income and are facing additional costs with the upcoming Wet Season. Producers now have thousands of tonnes of hay in the field or paddock and have been unable to recover any production costs. They now face significant additional cost in restacking and covering the hay prior to the Wet Season. It is estimated that producers in the Top End have between 50 000 and 80 000 tonnes of hay to store at a cost of around $20 per tonne including tarping, transport, and stacking. Once the Wet Season arrives, three things will happen: (1) hay sales and demand will be significantly reduced; (2) prices for any hay sold will be downwards; and (3) hay will start to deteriorate with losses being significant, unless well tarped or stored in sheds. This all adds up to continuing losses for the industry.
This valuable resource needs to be protected throughout the Wet Season. If not correctly covered, there will be significant loss and spoilage. This will mean further losses for producers and could well mean a severe shortage of hay for next season, with the resulting animal welfare issues.
Cattle producers are also in the position of needing hay, but not having the funds to purchase it. With a relatively modest amount of assistance, producers could apply for grants to help them meet the costs of covering and protecting their hay. This would be a cost-effective investment in protecting between $10m and $15m worth of hay and many businesses in the process. This will ensure there is hay on hand for the industry when required to ensure stock are fed.
I ask the minister and the Northern Territory government to contribute direct assistance and to lobby the Commonwealth government to the tune of about $2m, which is in addition to the recent announcements by the Commonwealth government. I have not seen many announcements, if any, where funding or support has been committed directly to the agricultural industry. It should be made available to the agricultural fodder industry to meet the cost of stacking, transporting, storing, and covering hay prior to the Wet Season - while many of us usually want an early Wet Season, this year we all want a late Wet Season - and to allow cattle producers to buy fodder to ensure cattle are fed when feed runs out late in the Dry Season.
While industry would benefit now and into the future if they could construct sheds on their properties for hay storage by using their recently announced low-interest loans, many businesses are not in the position to borrow any more funds. Therefore, the necessity for more direct assistance to this industry is essential.
I want to highlight a couple of case studies, incidents, or family stories in regard to the impacts on the agricultural industry. I will not use names of the companies or the families, because they did not want me do so.
Let us take case No 1. It is a family property and they have been on the property for about eight years, and have been doing well. They produce 6000 tonnes per year and employ eight people full-time. As of the start of the ban, they have not produced any feed, and they have had to let all their employees go, including the family members - which is eight people who have lost their jobs. They did spend weeks doing maintenance, but they could no longer afford to pay them, so let them go. When this business does start up again, they will have to employ and retrain new staff, because the previous staff have left - if not left the Territory. The ban caused this family and this business to put on hold all their infrastructure expenditure due to not having any idea when or what income will be in for the next 12 months.
The cost to this business of the past 10 weeks has already exceeded $100 000 in lost income. Then, there are the follow-on costs of reduced feed value and quality in unprocessed hay, storing and tarping costs, and the potential production losses next Wet Season due to the inability to afford fertilizer on improved pastures and hay crops. Weed control and pasture crop maintenance have suffered, and will suffer, due to the inability to pay for the necessary agronomic practices which will have long-term repercussions for the production into the future. The cost of replacing and training new staff will have a significant financial cost to the business. They are just some of the small problems facing this business and family into the future.
I look at case No 2, which is a family-owned property a little further south of Darwin. The ban on live export has had a disastrous impact on this family business, and on the industry generally. This business and family immediately stopped harvesting their hay as orders were cancelled and hay movement completely stopped. Their remaining hay paddock, which would normally return about $78 000, still has not been harvested, so that means that fodder, over a period of time, will become worthless.
Prior to the ban, they were sending out 100 tonnes – 200 bales of hay - per week. This ceased from 7 June 2011 and they have only sold four bales of hay to the horse industry. Since the start of the ban, this has represented a loss of nearly $200 000 in lost revenue and the situation is continuing. Their contracts, which would normally have continued until January 2012, which represent about 60% of their farm annual income, have now practically ceased. On top of this, as the Wet Season approaches, the unsold hay will require storage and tarping at a cost of $10 to $20 per tonne. While there is no income coming in for the hay, they also may be faced with a $30 000 bill to restack, store, and tarp the hay.
The financial strain on this family business has caused a complete restructure of the business, now and into the future. They have difficulty meeting their day-to-day running costs, and the overdraft will have to be significantly increased so they can meet their commitments and survive as a farming entity. Two members of this family have already left the business and moved to Darwin to seek other employment due to the inability to pay wages.
With the third case study, another business south of Darwin, on the day the live cattle trade was shut down, three hay contracts worth approximately $120 000 were immediately stopped. Another share farming deal was stopped also, with approximately 4000 large square bales remaining unharvested with a gross loss of around $30 000. This area which remains unharvested was fertilised and maintained as a hay paddock at a cost of $25 000, which will now not be recouped.
All of these hay contracts and share farming agreements were directly aimed at providing hay to the live cattle export trade. Another 3000 bales remain in the paddock unsold, with significantly lower prospects for sales and good prices due to the large stockpile of hay all over the Top End and the downward pressure on prices. As with all other hay producers, tarping and storage will represent a significant problem and cost. Tarping for this family business will amount to about $30 000. This business has repair and maintenance bills of over $25 000, and a delivery truck that is unable to be repaired due to lack of finances. This business has laid off one permanent employee and has been unable to employ two casuals they normally employ at this time of the year. The ban has cost this family hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost and foregone income, and will have impacts on the viability for a long time future - if there is a future at all - for this company and family.
They are just three case studies of how it has impacted across the agricultural industry in the Top End. What I am asking the government is if they could give answers to us and the people of the Northern Territory. What is the exact and the specific extent of the ban of live export on the agricultural industry? What talks has the government and the minister had with the agricultural industry in the Top End? What assistance packages are available for the agricultural industry and have these been signalled to the industry, and is the minister talking with industry? Has the minister considered providing a forum to share experiences and ideas, and to mitigate the impacts of the live export ban for the agricultural people?’ I am interested to hear the minister answer these questions.
In regard to the transport industry that services both the cattle and the agricultural industry, they too have suffered substantial losses of income and turnover. At the Senate inquiry only some two weeks ago, we heard that Road Trains Australia, in one month alone, had an income turnover go down by $2.7m and they had put off 13 full-time employees. The export yards, the AQIS inspected yards, also have suffered loss of income and employees were put off. I am interested to hear from the minister what work he has done with those businesses and the government in regard to any assistance packages.
Regarding heli-mustering and contract mustering, we also heard at the Senate inquiry that one of the major commercial pastoral properties in the Northern Territory had put off eight full-time Aboriginal stockmen and they were not utilising the services of another 50 people in regard to contract work on their three properties in the Barkly region.
Madam Speaker, I ask the minister and the government to give us a clear indication of what their understanding is of the impact of the live export ban on the agricultural industry, and the support industries such as the transport industry, the export yards, the heli-mustering, and the contractors. How many jobs have been lost? What is going to be done to recoup and regain the lost ground? How is the government going to help these people who are suffering terribly?
Mr VATSKALIS (Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources): Madam Speaker, we welcome the member for Goyder’s motion to provide a comprehensive summary of the impact of the ban on the export of live cattle from the Northern Territory.
In outlining the impact of the suspension of the live cattle export trade, like all Territorians, I was shocked by the footage showing the cruel treatment of Australian cattle in some Indonesian abattoirs. Pastoralists themselves were upset by the images, with a number of pastoralists saying they would no longer supply their cattle into export markets unless adequate welfare standards could be ensured. Although it has not been reported widely, the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra issued a media release condemning the practices. We have been working with industry, with my interstate colleagues, Terry Redman, the Western Australian minister for Agriculture, Tim Mulholland, the Queensland minister for Agriculture, and the federal government.
Following the Four Corners program, Hon Joe Ludwig MP, Australian government Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, ordered an immediate investigation into the footage. On Tuesday, 7 June, Senator Ludwig implemented orders suspending export of all animals for slaughter.
On Thursday, 9 June, I attended the opening of the CDU pharmacy building by the Prime Minister. The Chief Minister and I took the opportunity to brief the Prime Minister on the impact on the Northern Territory pastoral industry. A response to it was made jointly by me and my state colleagues.
Senator Ludwig convened a national conference with Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland ministers on 10 June 2011. An industry and government working group was appointed to jointly develop the protocols to ensure the traceability of all Australian livestock exported to Indonesia. The Northern Territory lobbied for the inclusion of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association as part of the working group rather than simply be represented by its national body. The group is working on ensuring animal welfare and recommencement of the trade, management of the domestic implication of the trade’s suspension and a course of action for managing Australia’s relationship with international markets.
At the request of the federal minister, I travelled to Indonesia with Mr Rohan Sullivan, President of the NTCA, and Mr Adam Hills, CEO of the exporters, to meet with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Mahendra Siregar, who is the Vice Minister of Trade in Indonesia. I also met with Mr Toni Wibowo, the Director of Lembu Jantan Perkasa – who operates a cattle breeding feeding lot and trading company - about operations in Indonesia.
The Territory continues to have a special relationship with Indonesia and, in providing feedback to the Australia government, a decision was made to lift the ban. Both the Prime Minister and minister Ludwig stated clearly they want to reopen cattle export to Indonesia, but it has to be guaranteed that all cattle will be slaughtered in an appropriate method in approved abattoirs. That is why the minister rang me personally and asked me to visit Indonesia; first of all to discuss that issue with the department of Agriculture officials and, second, to provide him with feedback about the Indonesian opinion on imposing the ban on live cattle export.
The Indonesian Embassy issued a media release confirming both the Indonesian and Australian governments will continue to work together to recommence the trade and ensure appropriate welfare standards. Senator Ludwig has appointed former Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Bill Farmer, to lead a review of the live animal export industry. This review is separate to the work of the joint industry and government working group.
The new protocols will ensure appropriate animal welfare of Australian sourced cattle throughout the entire supply chain, from the point of unloading to the feedlots and into an abattoir. The supply chain will be transparent and independently audited. Individual operators could lose their licence to export if animals have not been handled through the approved supply chain to which the exporters were granted permission to export. Simply accrediting abattoirs - and not the entire supply chain - will not provide the certainty we need to ensure appropriate animal welfare standards are met.
We are all aware the export of live cattle is the largest primary industry in the Northern Territory, and the impact of the ban has touched every corner of the Northern Territory. During the 2009-010 financial year, the farm gate value for Northern Territory cattle sent to all destinations was $250m.
The Northern Territory government appeared before the Senate committee in Darwin and explained the impact of the suspension of the live trade on Territorians. We also called upon the Independent members to withdraw their private members bill that sought to ban live exports. Live exports from Darwin have commenced. Around 3000 head left on 10 August and 4000 head on 11 August - and that is just the first step.
The annual farm gate value of production of Territory live export cattle is estimated between $166m and $200m annually. When landed in Indonesia, these cattle are worth between $250m to $280m. This is a significant industry employing around 2000 people. When you consider many of these jobs are in regional and remote areas, you begin to understand how important this is to the Territory.
Over the past 30 years, cattle have been exported from the Territory. In the 1980s, a significant proportion of the trade was to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian markets. This market declined due to the Southeast Asian monetary crisis and subsequent issues around exchange rates between the Australian and other markets; for example, the Philippines. However, the market in Indonesia then started to return in line with expanding middle class population seeking beef as a protein source.
While the northern part of the Territory can breed high-quality animals, we cannot cost-effectively finish these animals for slaughter due to poor feed quality in the Dry Season, something the Indonesians can do well and very efficiently with good-quality feed from agricultural by-products such as pineapple waste and palm kernel cake.
The Territory cattle industry sees turn-off from the Top End, Katherine, VRD and northern Barkly regions primarily targeted to the live export trade. The industry is based on tropical breeds well suited to Southeast Asian markets. In contrast, the southern Barkly region removes animals to Queensland feedlots and backgrounding properties, while Central Australia, with predominately non-tropical breeds, can grow animals to slaughter weight bound for southern Australian markets.
In 2010, 273 000 Northern Territory cattle were exported to Indonesia through the Port of Darwin. While it is not clear how many Northern Territory cattle will be exported to Indonesia through the Port of Darwin this year, it will be significantly lower than in previous years. Up to the end of July 2011, 110 000 head had been exported to Indonesia. Based on currently available information, modelling suggests that up to 200 000 head may be exported this year, a shortfall of approximately 70 000 head, and may be as high as 100 000 head.
A recent survey undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences provides a ‘snapshot in time’ survey on the impact of the suspension of the live export trade across northern Australia, including Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland at 1 July 2011. A total of 230 properties were surveyed to determine the effects of the suspension of the trade in slaughter cattle to Indonesia. Of the estimated 1459 farm businesses with more than 100 cattle, 660 intended to export cattle to Indonesia with around half intending to sell their cattle.
The survey stated the trade suspension had the greatest impact on the Top End/Roper/Gulf and the Victoria River/Katherine areas. These areas had the highest percentage of producers intending to sell more than 50% of their turn-off on the live export market.
At the end of July, 365 000 cattle remained unsold in Northern Australia, with almost 160 000 cattle located in the Northern Territory.
The most startling figure again relates to employment, with the survey finding an estimated 326 north Australian cattle industry employees were either laid off or not hired between the time of the announcement and end of June 2011. We should remember that over 90% of farm businesses in the north are hard-working family operations.
Uncertainty about the duration of the suspension at the time of the survey reported by 75% of farm businesses was the most important short-term constraint to managing the suspension of trade. Other concerns included finance and cash flows, information on alternative markets, availability of feed, and the availability of livestock transport. Five businesses indicated a range of strategies they would utilise in response to the suspension, including finding alternative markets, reducing non-essential expenditure, changing mustering plans, increased stocking rates, and adjusting herd management. Around 37% of Northern Territory farm businesses deferred non-essential expenditure on capital, plant, infrastructure and repairs.
In north Western Australia, the figure was more than double at 80%. About 48% of Northern Territory businesses changed or delayed mustering plans, 35% of farm businesses in the Northern Territory reduced staff, loan repayments were deferred by 6% of farm businesses, 67% of businesses require additional feed or agistment for retained stock, with Northern Territory producers reporting that 2.8 months of feed was available.
In responses from farm businesses, the majority of pastoralists - some 74% - identified they would need to find alternative markets if the live trade did not recommence quickly. Pastoralists are saying they would sell into lower-priced markets to generate cash flow, and reduce stocking rates. The survey confirmed that 86% of respondents would reduce expenditure on capital, plant, infrastructure or repairs, and 89% of Northern Territory respondents said they will change mustering plans.
Put simply, pastoralists are reducing expenditure. They are suffering from lack of cash flow and there is a flow-on throughout Darwin and regional business. A study on the financial impact of cattle export restrictions to Indonesia presents similar findings.
With regard to hay and fodder production, the hay production industry in the north grew up around live cattle export to a value of almost $15m a year, and is almost entirely reliant upon it. This industry also came to a sudden and immediate halt when the export ban was imposed, with existing contracts cancelled or not filled. A range of operators produce hay in the Territory. Some are specialist producers and others breed cattle as well. These producers are now left with one option only, which is to store their hay over the Wet Season - on or off farm - at considerable cost, or lose their crop and any potential income. Some hay producers are resorting to alternative sources to offload their product as they simply cannot afford to store it for the foreseeable future. The overall impact on the hay industry will, ultimately, rely on the recovery of the live trade and the ability of alternative markets to absorb the product.
The transport component of the live cattle export supply chain was conservatively estimated to be $13.2m in 2009-10. Some of the loss of live export transport business as a result of the suspension of the live cattle exports for a month, and the expected slow recovery, would be offset by the transport of cattle sold in alternate markets. The cost of transport to eastern and southern markets will be higher for many producers in the Top End. It is very difficult to ascertain the number of transport businesses involved in the live cattle trade. The number of people employed in the live cattle transport business and the impact on employment is not available. Anecdotal evidence for the current situation is that limited transporting of live animals has commenced, the extended grounding of transport fleet has resulted in reduced revenue and inability to service lease fees, a skilled migration has occurred with contract drivers forced to seek other employment, and many existing and forward contracts have been greatly reduced or cancelled.
Helicopter mustering is an important labour-saving input in cattle production in the Northern Territory. It is very difficult to ascertain the number of businesses involved in providing animal mustering services. Anecdotal advice of the current situation is that one of the major local helicopter businesses has grounded 29 of its fleet of 49 helicopters since the live export suspension.
The impact upon Territory veterinary services is difficult to gauge. It is safe to say services were in demand during the initial stage of the ban to ensure animal welfare standards were upheld as stock remained in holding yards across the north. During the suspension, less veterinarian services were required for pre-shipment inspection services by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and other veterinarians, as the boats were not operating.
Some Territory export yards and holding depots are also used as trucking facilities to move cattle interstate, as well as to export. Immediately following the announcement of the suspension, officers of my department moved quickly to work with colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services’ Animal Welfare Unit and AQIS to ensure the health and welfare of those cattle caught in transit. The volume of cattle moving through those yards in Darwin to interstate is currently low; higher in Katherine and at Kalala Station. Both Territory and Kimberley cattle are being handled through the Katherine and Kalala facilities …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, it is now 9 pm. Do you wish to continue your remarks for up to 10 minutes?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, Madam Speaker, I will finish within 10 minutes.
Madam SPEAKER: You have up until 9.10 pm at the maximum and that is the end of your speech. Please continue.
Mr VATSKALIS: Thank you. Export yards and holding depots employ stockmen to manage the feeding and handling of cattle. Anecdotal evidence is as the yards emptied as cattle were sent elsewhere, some of the stockmen found alternative employment.
As mentioned earlier, the survey showed the pastoralists, as they immediately responded to the suspension of trade, reduced non-essential expenditure. The suspension has also meant pastoralists in the Top End who rely on the export markets have not made sales, hence cash flow has been zero while expenses are mounting up.
It is fair to say all Territory cattle enterprises and ancillary industries in rural communities have been affected in some way. There are vast numbers of operators affected including holding yards managers and workers, ship owners and agents, export ship stockmen, ship providores, stevedores, veterinary service providers, road transport, and so on. Of the almost 1000 people directly and indirectly employed by the live cattle export trade in the Territory, 162 of them were either laid off or not employed as a result of the ban.
The focus of the Northern Territory government and me is a bipartisan approach of this parliament. This approach has been to take quick and decisive action in partnership with industry to seek the recommencement of our export trade. In response to the suspension, a senior departmental official well known to the pastoral and agricultural industry, was directly appointed to assist the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association to determine the emerging impacts and direct industry members to assistance and support.
As stated in our submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport, the live export of cattle is the major primary industry in the Territory. We have suffered severe job losses as a result of the suspension of trade, and major change has been forced upon almost all export producers.
In seeking to determine the impact of the suspension of the livestock trade, government and industry are delivering information and feedback sessions for all affected businesses. The locations and dates are as follows: Bark Hut on 15 August; Douglas Daly on 16 August; Mataranka/Sturt Plateau on 18 August; Timber Creek on 23 August; Top Springs on 24 August; Daly Waters on 24 August; and Larrimah on 25 August. These information sessions are aimed at providing updated information to affected producers, and may assist them to plan for the future of their pastoral enterprises.
The Northern Territory government is also contributing to industry assistance packages by providing pastoral property rent relief as outlined by the Chief Minister earlier this month. Direct assistance has already been offered through the Northern Territory Trades Support Scheme: $30 000 to support the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and $30 000 to support the Northern Territory Live Export Association. The funding will assist both organisations to engage in high levels of export marketing and activities in rebuilding the live cattle industry.
Additional assistance has been offered to business throughout Territory business growth and solution mechanisms, delivered through the department of Business. Financial support is available to other businesses to engage consultants and to assist with business diagnostics, cash flow management, financial restructure and negotiation, and business planning.
Madam Speaker, in closing, this Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a motion offering support for the recommencement of the live cattle trade. I must say it is extremely disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition has walked away from a bipartisan approach to do everything possible to recommence the trade. The Leader of the Opposition said he walked away from the agreement because the Chief Minister offered comments to the media. The member for Goyder was also in the media saying government was not on the ground in our international cattle export markets. A call to the cattlemen or exporters will dispel such a proposition.
I did not respond to these claims in the media because industry seeks leadership - not bickering, not politics. The Leader of the Opposition’s change in position appears to be more about internal tensions. I say this because I know the Leader of the Opposition supports the pastoral industry. We can only assume he has been overruled and directed to oppose government. It was on the same day the member for Fong Lim returned to the front bench.
Madam Speaker, I hope the Leader of the Opposition did the right thing and called NT Cattlemen and Livestock Exporters before announcing he walked away from a unanimous motion of this House to support the live cattle industry.
The focus of government and industry is on the recommencement of the trade and ensuring animal welfare. Only the recommencement of the trade will lessen the impact on the primary industry sector and so many related businesses that rely directly on the pastoral industry. The recommencement of the live export business is a welcome first step, but the crisis confronting the Northern Territory is far from over. It is the very reason why we are calling on the federal government to offer further financial assistance.
Debate adjourned.
Madam SPEAKER: The Assembly is now adjourned pursuant to Standing Order 41A.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Speaker, tonight I will talk about some events that have been happening in schools in my electorate. First, I acknowledge the primary students from my electorate who are the 2nd term recipients for the Quiet Achiever Awards. These students are selected for the awards and have shown diligence in their studies as well as a genuine respect for peers and school property.
The Quiet Achiever Award recipients from Jingili Primary School were Sarah Browne and Audrey Fryar. Millner Primary School’s awards were presented to Moe Minn and Brenda Joseph. Wagaman Primary School was awarded to Naja Dyrting and Antonios Lelekis. Moil Primary School recipients were Nomiki Magoulias and Cassandra Lewis.
Moil school student, Jacinta Saynor in Year 2, participated in her first gymnastic competition recently at the Alice Springs Invitational. Jacinta did extremely well, winning medals for 1st on the floor, 2nd on the beam, and she came 2nd in the overall competition. Congratulations, Jacinta on a fantastic effort.
I congratulate Nicholas Cowling, who received a banner for his participation in the City Cluster Cricket in Division 2, and to Amy Fisher, who was awarded 1st prize for painting any medium on stretch canvas at the Royal Darwin Show. Well done, Nicholas and Emma.
Early this month, on 3 August 2011, Cluster Sports Day was held at Marrara. I am delighted to report that Millner students won the Darwin City Regional Athletics Carnival Championships School Trophy for the very first time. The school accomplished this despite fantastic opposition from larger schools across the Darwin area. Congratulations to the team at Millner for their excellent skills, sportsmanship, and contributions.
I congratulate students who participated in the events. They are: Shameka Petterson, Mathias Phillips, Richard Rankin, Ruby Pumpa, Braxton Ahmat, Cillia Williams, Antonis Mastrovasilis. These students did very well at the city cluster athletics championships.
Four other students at Millner with special needs were given an opportunity to represent at the city cluster championships. They are: Bianca Phillips, Kailang Millar, Jordan Kurnoth and Jerome Marralngurra. Well done for remarkable efforts.
Congratulations to Ms Julie Callum, City Cluster School Sports Coordinator, who makes these events possible, and to Ms Arratta, a teacher and Physical Education Coordinator, who works tirelessly to promote sport in the school.
Staying with the young sports stars of Johnston, I congratulate and recognise the efforts of three young representatives in the Northern Territory side of the National Under 18 men’s hockey league in Tasmania earlier this year. The Northern Territory had a win on the final day, defeating South Australia by 4:2. Congratulations to Sam Sommerville, who was rock solid in defence; Daniel Robinson, normally outstanding as goalie, enjoyed success on the field scoring against South Australia; and Jeremy Kay, who played a persistent role in all games.
Later that month, Jeremy and Daniel participated in the Hockey Futures Camp held at the Northern Territory Institute of Sport in conjunction with the Australian Hockey League, with Jeremy travelling to Perth in July where he enjoyed the experience as part of a very competitive Under 21 Northern Territory side in the national men’s championship in Perth. I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to support all the athletes in my electorate, as well as the young achievers, and I wish them well in the future.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Speaker, tonight I talk about the Southern Districts Cricket Club which is based in my electorate at Freds Pass Reserve. They are, as most people would understand, a non-profit community sporting club which played its first A Grade game in 1984, and has been providing cricket to the local community for more than 20 years - and very successfully.
The club is the only cricket club in the Darwin rural area and provides opportunities for both junior and senior players from Holtze through to Manton Dam, to participate in the official cricket competition. Members travel from as far as Corroboree, Acacia Hills, Darwin River, and Berry Springs to participate. The youth in the community is also engaged in this activity – it is healthy, safe, and supervised in a friendly environment and atmosphere.
Currently, there are junior teams - two Under 11s, three Under 13s, two Under 15s, and one Under 17s. The club also runs an Into Cricket Clinic for upwards of 40 players aged five years to 10 years. Currently, the senior teams are women’s E Grade, D Grade, C Grade, B Grade and A Grade.
Membership of this club is greater than 300 people, of which 190 are playing. This includes five girls playing in the junior competition and 10 women playing in the women’s competition. Also, there are 10 Indigenous senior players and 15 Indigenous junior players. The flow-on effect of the membership means that upwards of 1000 rural community members are engaged in this recreational and sporting activity. This is an extraordinary reach into the community, and it demonstrates the contribution to the community and, moreover, the wellbeing of the community.
The club and the cricket activity bring accessible and socially acceptable recreation options to boys, girls, men and women in the heart of the rural area. It is an outdoor activity that is undertaken in a safe and secure environment, as I mentioned. Through the sport of cricket, young people gain confidence and skills that will help them meet the challenges in school and life generally.
Southern Districts Cricket Club was the first Darwin cricket club to develop, prepare, and lay and maintain a turf wicket. It is the first cricket club to install practice lights. It has upgraded the practice net area, which will be the envy of most other Darwin clubs. This was done through sponsorship in-kind and many generous donations from members and local businesses in the rural area. It is also the first club to have on-field mobile site screens.
The reason for talking about Southern Districts Cricket Club tonight - apart from the good things it does and where it has come from - is this club is in urgent need of upgrade. It has put proposals to the NT government, and I urge and ask the minister to look favourably on what it is trying to achieve for the benefit of not only community, but also the rural area and the Darwin cricket community.
We have heard this evening much talk on the requirement and need for activities, and to get young people to feel valued and raise their self-esteem. One of the good ways we can do it is through the game of cricket - from a fun point of view, but also from a competitive point of view. The reason the facilities at Freds Pass need to be upgraded is Darwin is becoming a sought-after venue for cricket, as was evidenced by the recent feast of cricket games, the Top End T20 Challenge, and the proposed international games. There is a need to provide more facilities for training and games, especially when the wicket at Southern Districts has been judged the best premier grade wicket in Darwin for the last two years.
Cricket has always been part of Australia’s culture, and as more and more games are broadcast on the multimedia, many more families are encouraged and inspired to get involved. This can be good for families and the community, particularly at a time when we face many challenges in our communities, with young people and the need to provide extracurricular activities - as I mentioned previously in my talk on youth suicide and those serious issues.
The club has already received a $10 000 facilities grant but, really, it needs in the vicinity of $500 000. It requires player changing rooms to enable safe and secure gender-based rooms, particularly to cater for the junior underage players. It needs umpire changing rooms, secure storage for office records, canteen stock, uniforms and equipment, office and meeting rooms, and outdoor storage for the roller and other curatorial equipment.
I was at the club on the weekend because it was the memorial match for Geoff Akers, who passed away a few years ago. Pints, sadly, took the cup home again. They did not win the A Grade, but they took out the B and the C Grades. It was a good two days. It was lovely to sit under the shady trees and watch many people enjoy themselves and children playing happily in the surrounding areas. I urge and ask the minister for Sport and the NT government to look again at the request for support and funding. I will be writing to the minister on behalf of the Southern Districts Cricket Club to commend it to him. Hopefully, he will view it favourably in light of the discussions that have gone before us today in regard to providing services and facilities for the young people of the Northern Territory.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak with much pleasure tonight about an annual event in Katherine held on 6 August 2011. I am referring to a special event that has its roots in aristocratic Europe of the 17th century. I have noticed two references to the origins of the name of this event. In one reference, the event comes from the French word dbuter, which means ‘to begin’. In another reference, which is a bit more fulsome, the event is self-named from the word ‘debutante’, which means ‘female beginner’.
I am referring, of course, to the 2011 Katherine Debutante Ball. The history around this event revolves around young women, usually aged 17 or 18 years, who are formally introduced to affluent society at a ball or coming out party. The original purpose of the debut was to announce young women of prominent social standing were available for courtship by eligible young men. This social ritual was necessitated by the traditional upper class practice of sending girls away to boarding school, where they were virtually hidden from view, prohibited from dating, attending parties of mixed company, or socialising with adults. A formal announcement thus introduced the debutante to her social peers and potential suitors. The custom has been long established among the aristocracy and the upper classes in England where debutantes were, until the mid-20th century, presented at court.
By the 1920s, some latitude had relaxed the rules of the debut and, by then, the debut had migrated across oceans to America and Australia. After World War II, the debutante ball spread broadly and enjoyed a heyday during many conservative years. A decade later, anti-establishment sentiment led many young women of even the most affluent status to abandon the event, dismissing it as anachronistic snobbery.
Notwithstanding anything that might have changed over the years, one rule has not changed; the debutantes dress. She used to wear a white gown, though a pastel shade may be considered acceptable. Loud colours or black have always remained inappropriate.
In Australia, and certainly in Katherine, the debutante ball has witnessed a popular resurgence. I have been to Katherine debutante balls for the past five years, and they had been running for some years prior to that. This year’s deb ball was an absolutely wonderful event! On the night, eighteen young ladies, with their partners, were presented to society in a beautiful ceremony. Our young ladies and partners were presented to me, as the member for Katherine, and my wife. Emerging from an arch of floral garlands and along a carpet of red, each lady dressed in white was presented with a sash as a symbol and memento of the evening.
How beautiful the young ladies of Katherine are! And dare I say it, how handsome the young men! Much effort was put into the evening by many people, including hours and hours of dance practice over months by the debs and their partners, much energy directed into home-stitched dresses, and the effort of a group of volunteers in putting the whole evening together. I pass on my personal thanks to all those who were involved in preparations for the 2011 ball.
The debutantes and their partners on 6 August this year were: Hayley Walker who was partnered with Michael Cottrell; a very nervous Megan Walker, who was with Jasper Bowman; Katy Jay, who was partnered with Geoffrey Ross; a lovely Kaitlin Talbot, who was partnered with Mitchell Johnston; Rachel Morrison, from a well-known family in Katherine, who was partnered with Gary Trembath; Brogen Begg, partnered with Simon Laird Barrington; Abbish Stimson, who came to the ball with Jack Lynch; Sarah Hopkins, who was partnered with John Bretten, one of the Katherine High School school captains; Jessie Robins, who was partnered on the night with Hayden Atkins; Rebecca Robins, who was partnered with another big local family member, Ben Fishlock; and Rachel Robins, who was partnered with Dean Callaghan.
It is no coincidence the last three young ladies’ surnames were Robins. They are Katherine’s famous triplets - not too many of them around. I have known these young ladies since they were born. Their parents are good and close friends of mine and my wife’s. We have known them since Mataranka days.
Continuing on with the debutantes, Gabrielle Read was partnered by Matthew Atkins; aspiring young actress, Hannah Gower, was partnered by Callan Horton; Madelyn Farrington was with Sam Carter; Taylor Matthews was partnered with Jamie Walker, another of our Katherine High School school captains; a lovely Tenisha Jacobs partnered by Zackarey Southern; Cody Festing came along on that night with Brandon Flynn; and last but not least, Jordan Bennett was partnered by Brendan Gower.
I pay tribute to the Katherine Times which produced a beautiful centre-page spread of photographs of our young debutantes and their partners. I seek leave to table this set of photographs from the Katherine Times
Leave granted.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank you colleagues. I wish those photos to be permanently recorded in the Parliamentary Record of the Northern Territory
I wholeheartedly congratulate the debutantes and their partners, and thank the parents, friends and family for their contributions to make the evening such a special event. I make the observation: if the 2011 debutantes and their partners are the future of Katherine and the Northern Territory, we are most certainly in good hands.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, honourable members.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak also of the 2011 Katherine Prize, which is a part of the event known as the Katherine Festival. It was held this weekend just gone, one of the many events that is part of the Katherine Festival. I will speak quickly about it. I am going to recognise the winners and those who were commended for their art work in this event.
First, I make mention of the 2011 Katherine Prize, Brian and Jeannette Lambert Art Acquisition Award which was won by Jan Milner Cole with a work titled Days End, which is described as a sunset on the Katherine River. It is where a moment of light was captured as the sun sets over the Katherine River, and a very beautiful piece of work. Congratulations to Jan.
The 2011 Katherine Prize, Dr Peter and Kathleen Short Craft Acquisition Award, went to Nicky Schonkala with a work titled A Walk in the Dark, which was hand-woven woollen textile, with reference to the mouse plague in Central Australia. Again, a beautiful piece of work showing the depth of talent inherent in the artistic community not only in Katherine, but right across the Northern Territory.
I also mention the commended artists. They were: Sandra Dunbar for a work titled Heliconias; Kevin Rogers for Savanna Giant; Cait Wait for Portrait of the Cycad NT; Jeannette Lambert with Passion Among the Palms; Helen Aland for her work titled The Katherine; and Kerryn Taylor, a very famous Katherine crafter, for her work titled Weathered Rock.
There are also the Somerville Youth Award winners and commendations. For the 13- to 14-year group, the winner was Taylah Locke. Commended were Summer French and Stella Hamlyn. For the older group, the 15 to 16 years, the winner was Tara Guempel-Crothers. Commended were Sarah Hopkins, Abbish Stimson and Taylor Matthews. In the 17- to 18-year group, the winner was Jacinta Phillips, with commended Georgia Knight, Keelan Fejo and Meaghan Pike.
I take a quick minute to say thank you to Mayor Anne Shepherd and the Katherine Town Council for their continued support; Brian and Jeannette Lambert, who provide the main prize for the event - thank you very much; Kathleen Short, the wife of the late Peter Short, for her ongoing support; Felicity Green, who came down from Darwin to do the judging; Dallas Panoho, who works for the council and puts in an enormous amount of effort for this; the ladies of the Katherine Country Music Muster Committee for providing the bar; the ladies from the Anglican Church for doing the food and, of course, Somerville for providing prizes on the night.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about a development in the Alice Springs CBD and the town, and to correct claims being made by the member for Araluen in her campaign to create media spin to the determent of Alice Springs.
Last week, the member for Araluen stood in this House and claimed that red tape is the reason a private developer has made a commercial decision to not proceed with the development of the old Melanka site:
On behalf of the hard-working staff at the Department of Lands and Planning, I take offence to that statement and accusation because the member for Araluen is wrong.
If the member had taken the time to inform herself, she would know an exceptional development permit to allow this site to be developed was approved in March last year, almost 18 months ago - hardly a case of the department putting obstacles in the way. The approved development includes five five-storey buildings, 118 two- and three-bedroom residential and short-stay apartments, and a commercial floor area including a proposed licensed venue.
Late last year, the owner of the land applied to vary the layout of the development because of sacred trees on the site, and to reduce the number of units to 115. This variation was also approved - again no obstacles from the department or the Development Consent Authority. There is no red tape holding up this development. Planning approval has been in place for almost 18 months to allow the development of this site to commence.
It is a fact that developers are finding it difficult to get finance from the banks for major projects. This is the likely reason why the developer has made a commercial decision not to commence the Melanka redevelopment. Rather than being negative and falsely blaming the department and government for so-called red tape, which is simply incorrect, the member for Araluen should be promoting the town and the development of this prime site next to the CBD. The development approval is still in place, and any potential purchaser can proceed with that development.
This government wants to see Alice Springs continue to grow, and we have made some great gains since the Alice Springs Planning for the Future Forum. The forum led to an action plan, including reviewing the development control clauses for the CBD, the Alice Springs CBD revitalisation project, residential land release strategy, and south of The Gap infrastructure headworks. I commend the member for Stuart and the Alice Springs Mayor for their commitment to seeing this action plan roll out. A major outcome from the plan has been the start of the works to develop the new suburb of Kilgariff, including $13.5m from government for headworks to keep the land affordable.
We are also working with the community on the CBD revitalisation project and a review of the control clauses for the CBD, including height limits. To help, the member for Araluen should support the debate for increasing building heights and other planning and urban design initiatives that will help deliver more residential developments and revitalise the Alice Springs CBD, including community safety to innovative urban design principles.
Government has provided $5m for projects to revitalise the CBD, and the Chair of the Urban Design Advisory Panel and Department of Lands and Planning officers are finalising the project with the Alice Springs Town Council.
After 10 years of no land release, this government was able to negotiate with the native titleholders to develop land at Larapinta. The first stage of Larapinta produced 40 residential lots at Stirling Heights. The second stage of Larapinta at Ridges Estate was completed in 2009, and produced another 39 residential lots and one multiple dwelling lot for seniors public housing. The seniors village is currently being developed at Larapinta. This land release would not have occurred without our cooperative approach with the native titleholders.
Following the success of Larapinta, we negotiated a further agreement to see land developed at Mt Johns. The first stage is nearing completion and is expected to provide up to 90 new homes.
The member for Araluen continues to be negative about government. However, the government is supporting the town of Alice Springs, and we will continue to support the town and sustainable development.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I will quickly talk about two things. The first is about the crazy alcohol reforms in Alice Springs and across the Territory, and the inability of constituents to use their firearms licences as identification.
To obtain a firearms licence, you have to go through a process including a test. The firearms licence is authorised by Northern Territory Police. It includes your name, date of birth, licence number, licence type, firearm classes, issue date, expiry date, condition codes, and licence reasons. I call on the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing to allow the firearms licence to be included as an authorised form of identification for the purposes of purchasing alcohol in the Northern Territory.
I also rise to the defence of the member for Araluen - not that the member for Araluen cannot speak for herself. The commentary by the member for Barkly just then, attacking the member for Araluen for standing up for Alice Springs and wanting the Melanka site to be redeveloped, was pretty poor. If he really was committed to developing Alice Springs, he would have made sure the CBD revitalisation plan and the $5m package promised at the 2008 election would be in place and the works would have been constructed.
If we start seeing things like that, we start seeing crime addressed in Alice Springs, then people who own places like the Melanka site would start to redevelop. As the member for Macdonnell calls it, KFC crossing, the intersection where the Melanka block and KFC are is where all the crime is. It is pretty hard to develop a block that is devaluing because of the continual crime that occurs every summer.
This government has failed to address crime, revitalise the CBD or the height limit restrictions. So, to come here with some backhanded slap towards the member for Araluen, I take particular umbrage at and find completely offensive. The member for Araluen is right in standing up - and I join with her - and saying the Melanka site should be redeveloped.
Get on and do the job. You have done your consultancy reports. You have spent years of inertia standing back doing nothing about the CBD and crime. We want to see a progressive Central Australia that includes development, so pull your finger out, get on with the job and start developing the town!
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I address some of the comments made by the Minister for Lands and Planning. Minister, why has 2 ha of vacant land in the CBD of Alice Springs appeared in the last 10 years during your reign? Where is the money we have been hearing promised for the revitalisation of the Alice Springs CBD for at least the last six years that I am aware of?
I blame the government for the lack of development in the CBD of Alice Springs; I do not blame the good employees of the Department of Lands and Planning. I blame the minister and the government. They have much to answer for in the lack of consistent commitment they have demonstrated to the town of Alice Springs over the last 10 years.
I also tonight talk about a case that occurred on 3 August 2011, of a boy accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in a public park in Alice Springs. This is a very sad case which highlights an issue we do not hear much about. However, from the information given to me by various stakeholders within the child protection industry, the incidence of child perpetrators of sexual abuse is an increasing problem in our community and something that needs to be talked about publicly and openly, particularly for the families affected - the family of the child sexual perpetrator, and also the child victim of sexual assault.
This issue was raised today in a report in the media about a Western Australian case whereby a 15-year-old boy, placed under 24-hour supervision by the Department for Child Protection in Western Australia while facing allegations of rape of a four-year-old girl, has been accused of another rape of a child.
There is a need for the Northern Territory government to clarify for the community exactly what its policy is around managing children who are in the care of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Children and Families who demonstrate inappropriate sexual behaviour. What is the general case management plan for dealing with these very difficult children who, obviously, have major problems, as their behaviour is such that it has to be managed very closely? How are these cases managed in providing protection for other children who may be subjected to the potentially dangerous behaviour of a child?
I was contacted by the family of the six-year-old victim of sexual assault last week and again early this week. They are not only concerned for the wellbeing of their six-year-old child who is, obviously, deeply affected by the sexual assault perpetrated by the 12-year-old boy in the care and protection of the CEO of the department; they also expressed their concern about this 12-year-old boy. This 12-year-old boy was in the care and protection of the Department of Children and Families and they were asking me what sort of supervision should this child have been getting as a child in that arrangement? Who would have been monitoring this child? What sort of mechanisms would have been in place to ensure they knew where the child was and what the child was doing?
I do not have answers to that, but the government does. The community of Alice Springs and, indeed, of the Northern Territory, deserves an explanation as to how they are managing what I understand to be the increasing numbers of child perpetrators of sexual abuse. It is a topic that is taboo; it is difficult to speak about. However, we must speak about it because it is very serious when we cannot allow our children to play in a public park for fear that another child might sexually assault them.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I call upon the government tonight to respond to some of the questions I have raised around the management of these children in the care and protection of the CEO of the Department of Children and Families - children who are exhibiting inappropriate sexual behaviour and committing sexual offences against other children.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak about the carbon tax tonight. I am intrigued, having watched the television tonight, as I sense a shift in the government’s position on carbon tax. To be fair to the government, it is important to point out at all stages the Chief Minister said, as early as February this year, the carbon plan must not shortchange Territorians. The government’s position has been that so long as Territorians are not negatively affected, the government would support carbon tax.
On 10 and 11 July this year, the Northern Territory government issued media releases welcoming the carbon tax and saying most Territorians would be better off. There was already a change of language at that stage. Now, it does not shortchange Territorians, it is just what most Territorians should be. The position of the Chief Minister was then to simply say:
He went on to say:
Then he talked about some of the elements of the carbon tax.
On the news tonight, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory seemed to be changing his position, because questions he has been avoiding in this House in relation to diesel and the cost of getting material here and those types of things, was a question he was forced to deal with by one of the local television stations. He seemed to prevaricate, to say the least, on that issue, defaulting to the original position: ‘Oh, well, if it is going to be bad for Territorians then we would not support it’.
The Chief Minister has an interesting position on this, in that in February he warned if it is bad for Territorians he would not support it. Then, on preliminary Treasury figures, he embraced it. Now, he seems to be stepping away from it again. The indication is the Chief Minister is aware of something that will have a deleterious effect on Territorians in relation to the introduction of the carbon tax.
Northern Territory Treasury has now had an opportunity to model the carbon tax more comprehensively for the Northern Territory. I ask the Chief Minister to table the comprehensive modelling done by Northern Territory Treasury because I suspect it is telling him Territorians will be worse off under a carbon tax. He is duty bound to fully disclose the impact as described by Northern Territory Treasury.
If it does demonstrate Territorians are better off, then so be it! However, as all members in this place know, diesel fuel is a very common fuel for the movement of goods in the Northern Territory. Whilst the petrol at our bowsers may be exempt from carbon tax, diesel fuel for road transport and heavy transport is not! It will be subject to carbon tax.
The other thing we need to address is carbon tax will not be paid by the so-called top 500 companies - which is another furphy, but we will not go into that now - carbon tax will be paid for by the consumers who use those top 500 company products. This means the power consumers in the Northern Territory will pay the tax. The government will argue rebates are available for taxpayers on low incomes so, essentially, this is a tax in the same nature of a wholesale sales tax, pre-GST time, being passed on to consumers, who, if you are in the higher income brackets, will be the people who pay the tax. The fact is, those people who are in those higher income brackets will be slugged. This is a good old Labor policy: tax the rich, give to the poor, and create a humongous bureaucracy in the process to manage the thing.
However, I digress and return to the issue at hand which is this: if Treasury modelling is complete, I call upon the Chief Minister to make that modelling fully available and disclose it to the people of the Northern Territory so they can determine whether or not they are better off under a carbon tax. I suspect the price on the shop shelf will eat up very quickly any rebate, or leftover rebate, after the amount of money has been set aside for the consumption of power.
The government has given some numbers in relation to power consumption. I cannot find it, but that does not really matter. The effect is power consumption will consume the largest slice of that rebate - and who knows how long that rebate will last. Then, the rest of it will go to other produce. It is that other produce I suspect will not only eat up the rebate, but push all taxpayers in the Northern Territory into the extra tax burden.
It is easy for the Chief Minister to prove my suspicions wrong. I invite him to do so in this House today and demonstrate his open, honest and accountable nature by laying on the table the full and complete Treasury modelling on the Northern Territory carbon tax.
Tonight, I also speak about an issue in my electorate. I remain concerned about the condition of Larrakeyah school - where my two daughters attend school - in relation to road safety, particularly in the Temira Crescent area, but also paying attention to the Packard Street entrance. Packard Street is where the front entrance to Larrakeyah Army Barracks is and, at 8 am is a very busy place indeed. People are going to work on the military base, mums and dads are dropping off kids, and people are trying to get out of driveways and side streets. It is time to have a good close look at what happens there because I get nervous watching the number of kids crossing the road in the Packard Street area being exposed to what is an unreasonable amount of traffic. There are no traffic control devices in the area. On the other side of the oval, Temira Crescent, whilst most of the local traffic is quite reasonable, from time to time the young men who train and play cricket, particularly visiting teams, tend to use Temira Crescent as a place where land speed records have to be set in V8 utes.
I have had representations from local residents in relation to those issues, and continue to get representations. I have surveyed the residents in the area, and it is clear there is a deep concern amongst many residents about the safety of children in that particular area - not just me and my children and the rest of the children of the school, but more generally.
This is also a concern of the excellent Principal of Larrakeyah Primary School, Graham Chadwick, a man who has a ‘Mr Chipping’ quality to him in how he mentors and looks after the kids at that school. He, too, is concerned about these matters. I urge government to look at this issue closely and set about rectifying it on both sides of the school. I would hate to see an outcome at that school which would be a replay of the tragic death of Aidan Bott at another school in Darwin. Whilst it was not a traffic issue in that case, I know how seriously such a death affects a school, and I certainly do not want to see that happening at Larrakeyah or, for that matter, any other primary school.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I speak about a recent self-funded trip I made in conjunction with a gentleman who has become a very good friend of mine, John Moyle, a tireless worker for the community raising money for numerous charities. John Moyle is a 92-year-old gentleman and is the type of person I would like to be when I am 92. He is sprightly and intelligent, has a spring in his step, has all his faculties, and is looking forward to his 100th birthday. He is the sort of person we would all aspire to be when in our 90s.
Sadly, 18 years ago, John’s wife, Myrtle, passed away and, with that passing, a dream of his also went; to go to Gallipoli for the Dawn Service. John just got on with his life. He continued to work for the community - he has been an Apexian for about 65 or 70 years. After he returned from World War II, he joined Apex and has remained in that organisation ever since, giving great service to whichever community he chose to live in. He was the founding President of the Albany Apex Club, and did many great things in Albany such as facilitating a memorial drive to the top of Mt Clarence, where there is a monument to the Light Horse from World War I that was recovered from the Suez Canal after the Egyptians cut it down and pushed it into the canal.
John always dreamt about going to the Dawn Service at Gallipoli and, over a couple of discussions, I realised this was going to be something he needed a bit of a helping hand with. It was with great pride that I facilitated the trip. We co-shared the cost of it but, at 92, to fly around the countryside, go on these trips - many people were requesting someone accompany John. John lives on his own. He has family members interstate but he chooses to live in the Northern Territory because he believes it is probably the greatest place in Australia.
We went off to Gallipoli and, on arrival, were met by some people - none other than his grandson and granddaughter who, three weeks prior to the Dawn Service at Gallipoli this year, scraped enough dollars together and enough enthusiasm to decide as their grandfather was going to Gallipoli, it might be a good thing if they could get there. They pulled out all the stops and made sure they made it to Gallipoli. Not only did they get to Gallipoli, they convinced the tour people we were travelling with to get on the same bus. What an absolutely wonderful thing for a 92-year-old guy who has given a life of service to his community: to go to Gallipoli and have his grandchildren in the audience watching the proceedings.
We arrived and I had a small duty to perform. On behalf of the people of the Northern Territory and the Northern Territory parliament, I had to lay a wreath at the Lone Pine service, which is the Australian service held at about 10 am at Lone Pine. The Australian Embassy in Turkey did an incredible amount of work. My thanks go to Sarah Kelly from the Australian Embassy in Istanbul who worked tirelessly to facilitate a number of things, such as for John to lay a wreath at the Dawn Service at Gallipoli, and also at the Lone Pine service. It was very interesting, because they worked on a number of other things.
However, going to the Dawn Service as a VIP, he was treated in a way he was not quite used to at a military event. His days in Papua New Guinea, in Milne Bay and the surrounding islands, during the war were a little different. He was treated as a VVIP - a very, very important person. He was the oldest returned serviceman at the Dawn Service and, accordingly, was given a number of roles which were very important.
When we arrived at the Lone Pine service, we received a phone call from his son in Melbourne, who was at home watching the Dawn Service at Gallipoli. He got the surprise of his life when he saw his father laying the wreath. You can only imagine the pride that John’s son, Daryl, felt. John found out that not only were his grandkids able to see that, but his son was able to see it on national television. I am very grateful to the Australian Embassy for doing that.
The proceedings are they take you from a hotel in anakkale which is on the Asian side of Turkey, and you travel across the Dardanelles. There were five VIP buses. You are taken to be seated at the front where the proceedings take place, and that was great. The VIPs were then taken from the Dawn Service to a small breakfast at a nearby hotel. It was there we met and sat with the New Zealand contingent there for the Anzac Day Service. We got to sit next to the head of Defence for New Zealand, a gentleman by the name of Lieutenant General Rhys Jones. I have met many military people in my time, and I have to say Lieutenant General Rhys Jones was right up there with down-to-earth people who are not pretentious. They, obviously, knew what their job was and got on and did it in their lifetime, but are very down-to-earth, warm people.
We shared some time and some stories with them. They were so impressed with John they made him an Honorary Warrant Officer of the New Zealand Army. Apparently, when you are chief, you can do that on the spot. They gave him several medallions to keep and invited him, through the Embassy, to lay a wreath at Chunuk Bairwhich is the memorial to the New Zealanders and the highest point on the Gallipoli Peninsula the Allied Forces achieved.
After breakfast, we went to the Lone Pine Memorial Service where we laid wreaths. On the way, we checked out a number of cemeteries. Once that service was over, we moved up to Chunuk Bair where so many New Zealanders were killed. It is interesting because there is a beautiful monument to the New Zealanders and, probably not 7 m or 8 m away, is a monument to Mustafa Atatrk, the hero of the Turkish side of the Gallipoli campaign. Only about 5 m or 6 m away from the other one, the New Zealanders and the Turks both accept it is appropriate that on top of that hill both those monuments are side by side. The reason they do so is because that is about how far they were from one another for much of the fighting that occurred. They were literally within shouting distance and could lob hand grenades from one trench to the other. So, it is very fitting.
Once we left Chunuk Bair, we went to the Turkish memorial for Turkish troops who fought and died in the Gallipoli campaign defending their homeland. That was very moving. Both sides fought gallantly.
It was such a pleasure to take a gentleman who has given so much to his country, who fought for his country, who has survived not only the war, but the years. He has fond memories of those he served with. It was a pleasure to give him the ability to fulfil his lifelong dream and have the pleasure of laying three wreaths in front of so many of his national country men and women on national television.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Deputy Speaker, there are two things I want to talk about tonight. The first is quite an exciting thing for me and something the member for Daly might share as a local member. It is the award of Northern Territory Animal Hero of the Year Award, which is a Northern Territory government animal welfare organisations award. This year, it goes to Lisa Hansen from PAWS animal shelter in Palmerston.
Lisa has, without doubt, been a tireless worker for animal welfare. She is somewhat different to others in that she is really about caring for animals that are lost - not one of these extreme activists; she is a realist. She tries her best wherever she can. Not everything goes her way, but she is, without doubt, a true battler.
Those of you who go to the Mindil Beach Markets or the Palmerston Markets should be used to seeing the PAWS tent with the various ladies and gentlemen who help out the PAWS organisation and the shelter. You will see Lisa and Mousie and several other of Lisa’s friends; namely, other dogs that will do tricks for you, in many cases, if you give them a little donation - very cute. It is a very practical way to raise profile and funds.
I commend Lisa; she was shocked when she received the Northern Territory animal hero award. She only found out the other day. She is such a deserving winner of that award; she has worked tirelessly. She has given every part of her life to looking after animals. Sometimes, I worry she gives too much.
I know the member for Daly would share similar comments because he comes to the Palmerston Markets occasionally, and I know he has some involvement. It is really fantastic to see him supporting PAWS.
Well done to Lisa and her crew - particularly Lisa. She instantly wanted to pass off all the accolades to her crew, which is a great example of who Lisa is. However, she is the one who drives it all and she should be proud.
The other thing I mention is the fires that have been happening in the Alice region. Many know I have been involved in off-road racing and raced the Finke and various other events. I am involved at the Mt Ooraminna Race Track, otherwise known as Orange Creek. I want to read an e-mail I received today sent to all the members of the Alice Springs Off Road Race Club. It is from Bill Yan - or Yanni - the president of the club, and it relates to those fires:
My sympathy goes out to the Orange Creek crew. We have had nearly two years of really good weather down that way where we have seen much rain and, subsequently, much feed, which then equates into a fuel fire load. Unfortunately, for those guys the worst has happened and they probably have lost most of their food stock for their cattle. They also agist cattle for other companies. Without having spoken with them, it does not sound good for Orange Creek, and I have no doubt there are other stations in the area that have been also severely affected.
It is a shame we go from one point where we have great feed, then step into cattle bans. We start to see a little light coming at the end of the cattle bans, to being hit with fires to wipe out what foods stocks are left in some of those areas. It must be breaking their hearts. I know the Orange Creek crew would not have let it go without fighting hard. They fought some fires earlier in the year which was set from the roadside again. Guys, keep your chins up - the Coultard family and Wally Farcombe - keep working hard; we are all with you and supporting you wherever we can.
It is obviously hard from this House to rip down the road and give you a hand, but I am sure the communities are very aware of things not being easy for you guys. On our side of the House, we are right behind you, supporting you, so keep your chins up and we will see you soon.
Motion agreed to, the Assembly adjourned.
RESPONSE TO PETITION
The CLERK: Honourable members, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform members that response to petition No 50 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response will be placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition.
Petition No 50
- Amalgamation of Dundee and Marrakai into a New Shire
Date presented: 29 March 2011
Presented by: Ms Purick
Referred to: Minister for Local Government
Date response due: 17 August 2011
Date response received: 17 August 2011
Date response presented: 17 August 2011
Response:
The Northern Territory government is committed to hearing community views in relation to any proposals for change to local government boundaries, including any proposals in relation to the currently unincorporated areas of the Top End.
The government acknowledges the views of residents in Dundee and Marrakai as expressed in this petition.
The government has yet to receive the full report of work being done by the Coomalie Community Government Council canvassing options for inclusion of currently unincorporated areas of the Top End into a local government area.
The recommendations of the final report will be carefully considered by the Northern Territory government, with a particular focus on the views of affected citizens.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise the presence in the gallery of students from Years 4, 5 and 6 at Driver Primary School accompanied by Ms Patti Turner, Ms Nicole Tsirbas and Mrs Margaret Harmsen. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
CRIMINAL JUSTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 173)
(Serial 173)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to make a range of changes to criminal justice legislation within the Justice and Police portfolio. The amendments result from the Department of Justice and other stakeholders identifying various problems and improvements which could be made to the affected acts. The bill will improve the functioning of the criminal justice system and will ensure the Territory’s laws and democratic institutions are robust and effective. It is yet another measure this government has taken to build a safer and stronger Territory.
In total, five acts are amended. These are the Bail Act, the Criminal Code, the Juries Act, the Parole and Prisoners Act and the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Act. The key amendments are as follows.
The bill amends section 33 of the Bail Act to allow magistrates and justices to review police bail decisions on their own initiative. It does not alter the types of decisions these judicial officers may currently make on a review. This amendment solves an uncertainty for the courts. It ensures that judicial officers have a clear power to review and discharge bail orders in order to issue a remand warrant, thus allowing an offender to be transferred from a watch house to a prison. This was a source of some uncertainty in the past and caused some people to be detained in watch houses rather than prisons.
The bill repeals section 42 of the Criminal Code. Section 42 currently excuses a husband or wife from criminal liability for property damage offences to their spouse’s property. This section prevents police and victims from using criminal sanctions in domestic violence matters involving property. It also denies married people the same criminal law protections that are enjoyed by the rest of society, including de facto couples. The repeal of this anachronistic provision brings the Northern Territory into line with other jurisdictions and reflects modern community standards.
The bill also amends section 11(2) of the Juries Act to raise the age of persons who may opt to permanently exempt themselves from jury service from 65 years to 70 years. This amendment is designed to ensure the jury pool in the Territory remains at a sustainable level. This amendment is vital, not only to ensure we have enough capable jurors to meet the needs of our criminal justice system, but also to ensure that our juries are representative of our community as a whole. The amendment is not retrospective so, where people over 65 years have already obtained an exemption, their exemption will be maintained. I am confident our older Territorians will embrace this change to the jury system and will welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important community service.
The bill also makes minor technical amendments picked up in the drafting process to sections 5(8A) and 5(8B) of the Parole of Prisoners Act. These amendments remove references to repealed legislation but do not affect the operation of these subsections.
Lastly, the bill amends sections 19A, 48, 49, 83 and 92 of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Act to increase the maximum penalty for offenders who breach these provisions from two years imprisonment to five years imprisonment. These sections create various offences for child sex offenders who breach their prohibition or reporting obligations. This increase in maximum penalties enhances the legislation’s deterrence effect, brings penalties into line with some of the other jurisdictions, and keeps pace with community expectations about appropriate levels of penalty for child sex offenders who have breached their obligations.
Many stakeholders, including the judiciary, the legal profession, Northern Territory Police, Northern Territory Correctional Services, the Parole Board, the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and Legal Aid agencies were consulted in the development of this bill. I thank these stakeholders for their valuable contributions and insights throughout the consultation process.
In conclusion, this bill represents another example of our government’s commitment to strengthening the Territory’s criminal justice system.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION (NATIONAL UNIFORM LEGISLATION) BILL
(Serial 165)
(Serial 165)
Continued from 5 May 2011.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I indicate at the outset that the Country Liberals will not be opposing this bill. It is a vehicle by which the processes of arbitration in the commercial environment will enjoy a unified approach across the nation and, indeed as I understand it, into other jurisdictions in the OECD.
We have our own commercial arbitration legislation in the Northern Territory. There are elements of it which are inconsistent with the uniform approach. Members on this side of the House would never prevent a sensible bill from being passed that would enable business, which is often now co-located outside of jurisdictional boundaries, from enjoying similarity of law in both of those jurisdictions, because it makes the process of arbitration plainer to all concerned, no matter what jurisdiction you are in. It would be unwise, I suspect, for us on this side of the House to oppose something unless there was a matter of profound concern to us.
Perhaps one or two minor technical details would have raised an eyebrow, but certainly not sufficient for us to say to business we would not support a legislation which would make the business environment more effective. Consequently, government can enjoy the support of the Country Liberals in relation to this bill. That is about it.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support of this legislation which stemmed from a Standing Committee of Attorneys-General agreement in May 2010 to draft this new uniform commercial arbitration legislation. It is based on the United Nations Commission on International Trade law which has model law on international commercial arbitration. It is supplemented by additional provisions as deemed necessary or appropriate for the domestic commercial arbitration scheme.
The Commercial Arbitration (National Uniform Legislation) Bill of 2011, which we have before us, repeals the existing Commercial Arbitration Act. It provides a new procedural framework for the conduct of domestic commercial arbitrations. Equivalent bills have been passed in New South Wales and Tasmania and introduced in Western Australia and South Australia. The remaining jurisdictions of our nation also intend to introduce this legislation.
Additional consultation on the mediation arbitration provision in clause 27D has been finalised, and these issues have now been resolved. It gives us a contemporary commercial and arbitration system that is consistent with the Commonwealth’s international arbitration law, and it reflects the accepted world standard for arbitrating commercial disputes.
I will just take us through some of the key features of this bill. It provides parties with flexibility and autonomy in selecting the arbitrator or arbitrators to decide their dispute. It enables parties to agree on the number of arbitrators and the processes by which they will be selected, and how they may be challenged. It enables an arbitral tribunal to determine whether it has jurisdiction in a dispute, and also to enable a party to seek a ruling if they do not agree with a tribunal’s determination that it has jurisdiction. It enables an arbitral tribunal to have power to grant interim measures for purposes such as maintenance of the status quo and the preservation of assets and evidence. It enables an arbitral tribunal, subject to the parties otherwise agreeing, to conduct arbitration on a stop-clock basis so as to conduct arbitrations in a manner that is proportionate to the amount of money involved and the complexity of the issues in the matter. It enables parties to agree on the procedure to be followed by an arbitral tribunal to enable conduct of proceedings to be adapted to that particular dispute. It enables parties, with the consent of the arbitral tribunal, to make an application to the court to issue a subpoena requiring a person to attend arbitral proceedings or to procure documents. It enables an arbitrator to act as a mediator, conciliator, or other non-arbitral intermediary if the parties agree to provide further flexibility for parties to agree on how their disputes are to be determined. It provides default confidentiality provisions to cover situations in which an arbitration agreement does not cover confidentiality.
Madam Speaker, this bill introduces absolutely sound contemporary arbitration practices in commercial matters for the Territory, and I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MOTION
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly – Public Information Act – Review of Public Information
Continued from 29 March 2011.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I begin by saying I respect the Auditor-General’s recommendation. He raised some technical issues that have resulted in alterations to the way the department references these messages.
As outlined by my department in its submission to the Auditor-General, the facts on container deposit legislation speak for themselves. A cleaner environment and grocery and beverage prices are no more expensive in South Australia under this scheme.
The Auditor-General has made a technical assessment in a number of areas in the sense that the source of data in support of the statements in the advertising was not disclosed. As my department has pointed out, the advertisement included a link to the Greening NT website where this material can be found. In response to the findings of the Auditor-General, future newspaper advertisements from my department will include references for similar type activities, rather than refer readers to a website for the source of the information, to clearly clarify fact from comment.
What we need to be clear on is that, at every stage in the lead-up to the debate on the container deposit legislation bill last sittings, government sought to set out the facts to Territorians in the face of a significant public scare campaign.
In January 2011, in response to misleading advertising from an anti-Cash for Containers lobby group regarding the proposed Cash for Containers legislation, the Territory government commenced an advertising campaign to inform the community of the facts around proposed legislation. This advertising campaign by the Northern Territory government was known as Cash for Containers – Just the Facts. This campaign featured newspaper, radio, Internet and television advertising, and corrected the mistruths being advertised by the grocery and beverage industry on the Cash for Containers scheme. The Just the Facts campaign communicated five key principles around Cash for Containers:
(1) the Territory government’s Cash for Containers initiative will be introduced later this year;
In February, the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport received a letter from the Auditor-General outlining that he was reviewing the newspaper advertising component of the campaign under the Public Information Act following its referral to him by the opposition. The referral to the Auditor-General was in relation to section 6 of the act, where it was claimed by the opposition the information was misleading or factually inaccurate, or did not clearly distinguish a statement of fact from a statement of comment.
My department responded in good faith to the Auditor-General, outlining the factual nature behind each of the five statements in the Just the Facts campaign. My department’s responses are detailed in the Auditor-General’s report, along with the factual reference behind each of the Just the Facts statements.
The Auditor-General found my Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport had made factual statements in two of the five statements being: ‘the Territory government’s Cash for Containers initiative will be introduced later this year’, and ‘Cash for Containers is not a tax’.
My department’s references to other statements are outlined in the Auditor-General’s report as well as on the www.greeningnt.gov.au website.
In relation to the message that Cash for Containers has been in place in South Australia for over 35 years, my department advised the Auditor-General that while the advertisement did not provide a direct reference to the factual statement that Cash for Containers works in South Australia, the advertisements reads: ‘for more facts about Cash for Containers go to that website’. This website contains reference for the basis of the statement and the source of the fact. This source was the Recyclers of South Australia Incorporated which cited the success of container deposit legislation through increased rates of recycling and less container litter.
Future departmental advertisements will include references for similar type activities rather than refer readers to a website for the source of the information.
In relation to the message that grocery and beverage prices are not more expensive in South Australia under Cash for Containers, my department advised the Auditor-General that this statement was based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data for average retail prices of selected items from capital cities from the September to December quarter 2010. This data is available on the ABS website. The data shows grocery and beverage prices in Adelaide, where a Cash for Containers scheme operates, are not more expensive in places where it does not exist, such as Perth and Hobart. Additionally, the data shows grocery and beverage prices in Adelaide are comparable with other capitals such as Brisbane, where the scheme does not exist. From that ABS data, it was deducted that grocery prices are not more expensive in South Australia under Cash for Containers, so prices in the Territory under Cash for Containers should not need to increase either.
While the advertisement did not provide a direct reference for the statement, the advertisement reads: ‘For more facts about Cash for Containers go to the government website’. This website contains reference for the statement and source of this fact. Future NRETAS advertisements will include reference for similar type activities rather than refer readers to a website to source the information.
In reference to the message that ‘Cash for Containers will mean a cleaner, greener Territory’, my department advised the Auditor-General that when Cash for Containers is introduced it will result in notable reduction of the beverage container litter in the environment, which will result in a cleaner, greener Territory. This conclusion is based on research that the Northern Territory beverage container litter items constitute approximately 10% of the national level, despite the Territory being only 1% of the population.
In South Australia, where Cash for Containers has been in place since 1977, it has 7.4% of the national population, and contributes only 4% of the national beverage container litter. These figures are from the 2009-10 Keep Australia Beautiful national litter count, August 2010, McGregor Tan Research.
While the advertisement did not provide a direct reference for the statement ‘the Cash for Containers will mean a cleaner, greener Territory’, the advertisement reads: ‘For more facts about Cash for Containers go to the government website’, which contains reference for the statement and source of this fact. Future NRETAS newspaper advertisements will include reference for similar type activities, rather than refer readers to a website for the source of the information to clearly clarify fact from comment.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, I let Territorians know that our Cash for Container scheme is a fantastic initiative. It will boost recycling, reduce litter, and help kids, sporting organisations, and schools to raise funds.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, ouch! The underbelly of this Labor government has been exposed. I expect the Leader of Government business to rise to his feet at some point to be consistent with his grave concerns about that which is appropriate and correct in the operation of the parliament and the actions of government or opposition. He should have no other place to stand but to pass scorn upon the actions of his own government.
The history of this matter is there was public concern given voice to by the opposition that public funds were being used by this Labor administration to promote itself and its own programs in the lead-up to an election. The community was concerned. In fact, the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, had identified this was a legitimate concern which required a response. Leadership was shown from the opposition that there needed to be a better way of doing things. There was consultation between the opposition - which was small at the time - and the government that there needed to be a vehicle to ensure public funds were expended in an appropriate way. Out of that came the Public Information Act.
What I said in discussing this last week was there was an understanding in the development of this Public Information Act that it would not curtail the capacity of the opposition to be able to speak to the electorate, to the community, but it would apply to the expenditure of public funds in providing proper scrutiny that it is correct and accurate.
That decision and undertaking, which was made in good faith by the opposition, was reneged on by the Labor government. The result of that has been the mechanism established in good faith and as a response to this Territory community - and, in fact, the national community - that money should be used appropriately, became a tool for the Labor government.
I remember the Chief Minister lecturing me; standing on his high moral ground and denigrating the Leader of the Opposition. What he should have recognised was the ground on which he was standing was ground that had been provided to him through an understanding established in negotiations with his own Chief of Staff. The Leader of Government Business stood up on the occasion and made the observation that the attitude of the opposition was one of cause for grave concern. In daring to question and comment on the decisions of the Ombudsman, we could be construed - in the argument constructed by the learned member for Johnston - we take the posture of bullying and intimidating public officials. All that sounded great; they stood their ground and made these assertions with such glee that I found it disturbing. There was an undertaking, but that was reneged on. That is called betrayal, effectively.
Second, the tool was established in good faith to protect the interest of the community, ensuring the money spent is spent in a way that is to genuinely inform and advise and not for political purposes. That tool was then applied to the opposition so, effectively, we are not able to communicate. They are very happy; no wonder there is this glee.
As a consequence of this hypocrisy of the Labor administration, I then had to look at some of the material being produced for public consumption. Of course, I needed to respond and I wrote to the Ombudsman drawing to his attention some money that was spent to communicate some messages. I thought if it is good for this goose, it is good for that gander.
It was found, excused and explained away by the minister saying: ‘We complied in two of the six’ - or something like that. ‘Two of the five. There you go, everything is hunky-dory. We got it right on two’. What you were meant to say is you got it wrong on 40% of the occasions - you did not comply with the requirements of the Public Information Act. I ask you to consider, minister, and member for Johnston, if this were the opposition what would your speech be in this parliament today? What would you be saying? What high ground would you be standing on? What fingers would you be pointing?
The Chief Minister would probably try to tear down the character of the opposition and expose them as being hypocrites. You are hypocrites because you have failed to comply with your own act. Yet, you have an explanation, a veiled criticism of the Ombudsman when it is quite plain to see you have contravened the provisions of your own act that you have used against the opposition. You have been found out!
The thing is, though, this is not something for the opposition to think: ‘Oh, we have you now’. The community knows, they can see you, they have understood your character and your personality as an operation, and they have already made their judgment. They know you by your actions, by all your words and all your spin, over all those years. No matter what you say, it is not going to make much difference; they have already made their mind up.
I commend honourable members of this Chamber, just have a quiet look at this and reconsider. More importantly, members of the community who are assessing these matters and making their judgment on this appalling and hypocritical Labor administration, please read the Public Information Act, A Review of Public Information Referred to the Auditor-General, March 2011. Have a read of it, and it will confirm your instinct: yes, we have something not right in the Northern Territory. They can say all they like, but we have given up on them, because they are not consistent. They pretend they are genuine, they use those tools they have been provided with, they say - no one believes it any more – in the public interest. It is for political interest.
When you get caught out we get a wimpy response, an explanation: ‘We got it right on a couple of occasions’. What, effectively, you are meant to say is if it were your attack on the opposition, you would probably censure the opposition. You would send out all kinds of communication about how terrible the opposition is.
Before I go on to some of these determinations of the Ombudsman on the public record, this is an administration that is deeply inconsistent. You hide behind a veil that is not covering your nakedness anymore; we can see it quite plainly …
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: The Auditor-General, I should say, my correction …
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr MILLS: … has assessed this quite plainly. Now, here we go, the member for Johnston is getting himself prepared to defend his little outfit over there. Do whatever you like, say whatever you like, no one is listening anymore. They have made their mind up. Here we have …
Ms Lawrie: Agreed with the Auditor-General when he pointed out that law.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr MILLS: I gave an explanation …
Ms Lawrie: You did not agree with him.
Mr MILLS: There is an explanation. You clearly do not have ears that actually hear. There was an explanation …
Ms Lawrie: You did not agree with him.
Mr MILLS: You just mock concern. You are a joke and a phony! You do not have any credibility when it comes to the matters of the truth and integrity ...
Ms Lawrie: Yes, I do.
Mr MILLS: So you say. We will run the public test on that one ...
Ms Lawrie: Absolutely.
Mr MILLS: The minister, in his lame defence of covering up the hypocrisy of the true state and nature of this government, omitted these elements in his contribution, in his feeble attempt at excusing the actions of government which are, frankly, hypocritical.
It said the Auditor-General had a matter referred to him by a member of the parliament. Well, unlike the Labor administration, I will put my name to this – I wrote the letter, whereas the complaint that was issued against the opposition is anonymous. No one has stepped up and said: ‘I actually wrote that letter’. I would like to have someone on the government side stand up and say: ‘I actually wrote that letter’. Could anyone come forward and say they have their name to that letter and they are genuinely concerned? I was genuinely concerned - I was more concerned about hypocrisy than anything else. I raised this concern - the member for Blain that is - raised this concern. I will quote from his report:
Cash for containers, it was alleged …
Just the facts; these are facts. Okay? They alleged that these are facts. This is an ad that is paid for by taxpayers. Is it, in fact, a fact? One of the conclusions at the bottom of page 5 is that:
- ... I also concluded that the statement contravened the provisions of the act in that the source of data in support of the statement was not disclosed as required by the guidelines issued pursuant to the act.
Whatever words are described to cover that and mask that hypocrisy, they say: ‘We will do better in the future’. Well, you have breached the act. Their next statement was:
- Grocery and beverage prices are not more expensive in South Australia under the Cash for Containers. There is no reason why prices should increase in the Territory
That was a statement, as you say, of fact. The conclusion by the Auditor-General is that:
- While this statement is put forward as a statement of fact I believe it to be a statement of comment and thus inconsistent with the sub-heading referred to above.
That means it is put forward as a fact, but it is actually a comment. That means it is masked as a fact, but it is, in fact, a comment, and you need to do better if you want to go down that line. It went on to say:
- No evidence was provided in support of the statement that prices are no more expensive in South Australia and the suggestion that prices in the Territory should not increase may rest upon a range of assumptions that are not disclosed.
Mr Giles: Propaganda.
Mr MILLS: That is the word for it, propaganda! And taxpayers have paid for it. You are inconsistent and you are hypocrites. There is another statement of so-called fact that taxpayers have paid for:
- Cash for containers will mean a cleaner, greener Territory.
Should have a bumper sticker, I reckon. What they are saying is a statement of fact. It is a fact, something you can build something on, something real. The Auditor-General said, on page 6:
- However, no data source was included as part of the advertisement in support of the statement and no evidence was provided that would support any assertion that the experience in South Australia will be replicated in the Territory.
A fact? It is an assertion:
- Accordingly, I determined that the act was contravened in that this statement was not distinguished as being a statement of comment rather than of fact.
That is the reality there: you have been caught out, you are exposed, people can see it, now it is being confirmed.
In summary, the Auditor-General concluded:
- … that the advertisement contravened section 6 of the Public Information Act in that:
So, Madam Speaker, it is plain for all to see further confirmation that we have an outfit here that can say one thing and do another - everyone knows that. The judgment has already been made; the Auditor-General has confirmed the judgment of many in our community. I ask, from this point forward, that we take a bit more seriously than just ensure the Public Information Act is actually used. I have given my explanation and, if your explanations are to be given any credence, it is done in context of what I have already described: that there was a discussion, we participated in the construction of the Public Information Act, there was an agreement, there was an understanding that has been reneged on by the Labor administration, and we will keep it up, we will just keep watching.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I suppose the first point to make is a question really. Does the opposition support the container deposit scheme? Do you support it? I was under the impression that you did. I am getting a yes from the other side. If you do, surely you support it on the basis that it would lead to a cleaner, greener Territory? Surely it was on the basis, in summary, that it would lead to a cleaner, greener Territory? It is a bit difficult to find out where you are coming from, apart from political points that are being made by the Leader of the Opposition.
The Leader of the Opposition has today challenged the government, because we had a go at the Leader of the Opposition last week over his response to the Auditor-General in relation to material that was sent out from the Leader of the Opposition’s office, which I believe was blatant political advertising during an election campaign. It just so happened that the member for Warringah happened to be in a photograph that was published, along with other members of the federal parliament, during an election campaign. That is my recollection.
The major difference is, in his response to the Auditor-General, the Leader of the Opposition respectfully disagreed with the Auditor-General. He did not share the point of view; he did it respectfully - so he said.
The difference is that government has acknowledged in this case - in this complaint that is being referred to the appropriate statutory authority - that yes, we did get it wrong. We did get it wrong, and we did not attribute as fully as we should have certain statements. We should have made it plain that certain statements were expressions of opinion - opinions which, nonetheless, are shared by the opposition.
It is obvious the Opposition Leader has moved to his high moral ground. He even talked about - in a biblical sense - covering our nakedness, going back to the garden of Eden and the snake, and the tree of life, and biblical allusions; in being self-righteous about accusing the government of reneging on a deal.
He has form in this regard also - I will come back to the opposition’s form on this - where he promised Leo Abbott a job. He said, and I will quote again …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
- Dr BURNS: Tony Abbott says he can’t be part of this and he can’t …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the standing orders relating to relevance.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come back to the point reasonably soon please. While we allow a level of latitude …
Dr BURNS: There has been a high moral ground taken here and that was alluded to by the Opposition Leader. He alluded to a different case where he believed that government was not telling the truth and it had …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, as long as it is just for a very short period. I mean latitude …
Dr BURNS: It will be for a short period, Madam Speaker ...
Madam SPEAKER: I am getting a little tired of latitude.
Dr BURNS: It will be for a limited time, Madam Speaker; it is just about two sentences:
- … he can’t condone it in any way. So you got an issue there. However, I have it. I have his word that if he be the Prime Minister he will be in a strong position to look after you ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He is already two sentences over the boundary he set himself. I again draw the House, and your attention, to the standing orders relating to relevance.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you could come to the point fairly soon. Bear in mind that in calling this point of order in relation to relevance that it affects everyone in the House. In calling this point of order and asking the minister to come to the point, this will then affect every member in future speeches, member for Port Darwin. Minister, just get on with your speech.
Dr BURNS: He said:
- … and put you in a stronger position for 2012 …
Dr BURNS: Finished.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Dr BURNS: I will make a comment about that, Madam Speaker. Obviously, it was a promise made to Leo Abbott about becoming a candidate for the CLP in 2012 ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you just come to the point about the Auditor-General’s report. Thank you.
Dr BURNS: I made the point, Madam Speaker. Everyone in this House knows the point I have made - and I have not even gone to his assurances to the member for Katherine that he would keep him on as shadow Treasurer.
For him to stand up in this place and point the finger at the government when we have acknowledged we did not fulfil everything that we were supposed to fulfil in that publicity around container deposit - yes, we have acknowledged that, unlike the Leader of the Opposition who continues to disagree with the opinion of the Auditor-General. That sets the difference between the government and the opposition. We had a bit of a discussion about this: will he come out and stand on his moral ground on this? Everyone said: ‘No, he cannot, he has too much vulnerability over a whole range of areas’. This is a bloke who is getting bad political advice. We know now that the numbers are close to 6:5. That was in the paper this morning. Slowly and surely, inch by inch …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We are nowhere near the bounds of the Auditor-General’s report. I ask that relevance be insisted upon.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the minister is talking about the Auditor-General’s report, but come to the point.
Dr BURNS: All right, Madam Speaker, I will finish. I commend the minister …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask that you get the member to direct his comments through the Chair, rather than …
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, member for Braitling, I think you would like to remember that one yourself.
Dr BURNS: I commend the minister for acknowledging that we did not get it right, but also acknowledging that and putting on the record, plainly and simply, the department in future will abide by the guidelines, will attribute properly expressions of opinion. An expression of opinion, as I said at the beginning, shared by the opposition, that we want a cleaner, greener Territory.
Madam Speaker, I commend what the minister has said today and cannot accept much of what the Opposition Leader has said.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I have listened to this debate very carefully, and I thank all honourable members for their intriguing contributions. Nevertheless, I want to stay on point on this particular issue. It is worth going back to the Auditor-General’s report from February this year where the Auditor-General found:
- I concluded that a contravention of the … did occur …
I presume he means contravention of the law did occur:
- … in that:
The interesting thing is, that is what the Auditor-General had to say about the Leader of the Opposition’s publication.
You must remember that the Auditor-General is not inclined to step outside of his legislative boundaries, or the legislative boundaries of the Northern Territory. The defence we have heard is the minister said: ‘I acknowledge the errors I have made’. However, the response from government in relation to the Auditor-General’s comments about the Opposition Leader’s newsletter was as follows. Mr Henderson on 9 August 2011 - a week-and-a-bit ago:
- We have a Leader of the Opposition who has a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ style of politics. I remember the debate on this legislation to tighten up the rules around use of taxpayer money for what could possibly be interpreted as ‘for political purposes’. All in this House agreed. There was bipartisan agreement ...
It appears the Chief Minister’s words will come back and stick in his throat. The Chief Minister has absented himself from this debate so far. I am curious to see if he engages in this debate, because now he has to say to his own minister: ‘You have a “do as I say, not as I do” style of politics’ in reference to this particular breach of the legislation.
The fact the Auditor-General saw fit to make a specific report to this House contained in its own booklet, rather than incorporated in a report, would indicate to any reasonable observer that the Auditor-General considered this particular matter more serious than to merely include it in his next report. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who has a small staff, the minister has a staff of – how many in the department? 100? 200? 300? Moreover, he has all the resources of government, including the Department of Justice, to advise whether what he is doing is breaching the law.
It is interesting to note that, in relation to this particular advertising campaign, the Auditor-General, who is interested in the law, has said the law was breached, essentially, in 60% of the occasions of the minister’s conduct. No evidence is produced to support the assertions in the advertising issued by the minister.
I have to stop here and ask: did the minister see this campaign before it went out? If he did, did he ask the question: does this comply with the requirements of the legislation? If he did not ask that question, that is an issue that deals with the competence of the minister. If he did ask the question, was he lied to by his own departmental officials? If so, was that a big, black-hearted lie to deceive the minister, or was it an oversight? In that case, what has been done to deal with the departmental officials? If he did not ask that question, that is an issue of competence for the minister. If he was not even asked or shown the advertising material beforehand - it was simply sent out without his knowledge - that is also an issue of the competence of the minister. The minister merely has to ask a critical question; not do anything more than say: ‘By the way, is this legit?’
The interesting thing is these are not the only ads that are running out there making assertions from government. I find it curious, if you look at the ad dealing with the ‘produce your licence otherwise you cannot buy booze’, there is a reference on that ad. It is the one where you say ‘60% of all violence in the Northern Territory is alcohol-related’. Then you see the little asterisk, and you peer up close to the screen, and you suddenly realise that it says: ‘sourced from unpublished crime statistics data’. What use is that? What possible use is that reference to the person observing the ad? Okay, I want to go and check that data. Oh, it is not published. This is about the integrity of the information that flows from government.
That is why the Auditor-General, I suspect, determined it was necessary to issue a separate report specifically dealing with this issue because this is about the integrity of the information that flows from government. The integrity of the information that flows from government has been found wanting; it does not comply with the legislation. It certainly seems to produce more breaches than the matter raised in relation to the issue surrounding the Leader of the Opposition. Those breaches were generated by government with all of the resources of – what? - 18 000 public servants.
That is why the Auditor-General is critical of this sort of thing; because these guys have the resources to get these things right first time, every time, and they have not. For the minister to simply walk in here and say: ‘Oh well, we tried to do the right thing; we will make sure we get it right the next time’ and, then, we heard from the Leader of Government Business that what the minister did was a ‘mere accident’ and what the Leader of the Opposition did was an ‘act of villainy’, just does not wash.
You cannot afford to be negligent when you have taken such a pious position, I suggest to the members opposite. The feigned piety of the members opposite just does not ring true out there in the public’s imagination. I do not think there are many people who look at the Northern Territory government at the moment and say to themselves: ‘Wow, what a great bunch of pious people. They do everything right and they are beyond question; they are infallible’. That is the position the government painted for itself.
I remember listening to the speech made by the Chief Minister at the time, knowing this matter was on the Notice Paper, and thinking to myself: ‘Right, we will see how the debate goes in the future’. Because you allow that debate to continue, you then see these ministers dig themselves in deeper and deeper on every occasion until, finally, this debate comes up and, all of a sudden: ‘Oh well, we are right and you are wrong, except that, basically, we have breached the law more than you guys have’. It does not wash. The public is not that interested in it. I suspect what we should be doing is getting on with the business of getting on, and simply acknowledge that none of us are perfect, and the public expect us to do our job to the best of our ability.
The contribution from the Leader of Government Business belies the fears this government has about the next Territory election. The level of rancour I have heard from the Leader of Government Business in his contribution to this debate is indicative of the level of fear and uncertainty about the future. I take that rancour, aggression, anger, spite, and venom as a clear signal that this government is worried about its future and, rather than improving itself, it seeks to diminish others.
Madam Speaker, in that case, continue to seek to diminish other people and we will see what the judgment is in a year’s time.
Motion agreed to; report noted.
MOTION
Note Statement – Education in the Northern Territory
Note Statement – Education in the Northern Territory
Continued from 16 August 2011.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I will talk briefly to this statement, but more in regard to the schools and education facilities in my electorate, or the greater rural area, as I sometimes call it. A few nights ago, I spoke in adjournment in regard to Taminmin College. I want to again highlight the challenges that college faces as it continues to grow and the rural area continues to expand.
Taminmin College is nearly 30 years old. In 2008, middle schooling was introduced and the college was allocated $4.6m funding in the 2007-08 capital works program for new classroom facilities to support the implementation of middle year schooling. The college has doubled in size since the implementation of middle schooling and the 17-year-old leaving age requirement for students. Previously, there were 600 students; the current enrolment is now nearly 1200 students.
In comparison, a new purpose-built campus was built for Darwin Middle School at a cost of $25m and the 2009 enrolment of that school was 609 students. In 2010, $59m was allocated to construct a new Rosebery Middle and Primary School designed to cater for 1450 students. In 2009, Nhulunbuy High School, with an enrolment of 284 students, received $3.18m for middle year education and $2.6m for senior secondary education. Tennant Creek High School, with a 2009 enrolment of 240 students, has received $1.97m for a Remote Science and Language Centre, $3.4m for a new multipurpose sports facility and $1.3m for a Trade Training Centre.
I have no issues with those schools and colleges receiving that level of funding and having the infrastructure improved, but when you compare it to what Taminmin College received, $4.6m, and given the number of students enrolled in that college and the associated teaching staff, clearly, it is way behind. I ask the minister to take note of this. I know the school, through the council, is having discussions with the government. I believe we need to correct what clearly is a major deficiency in the funding arrangements and the support for Taminmin College.
For a nearly 30-year-old facility, there has been an overwhelming lack of maintenance. Despite 26 minor new works applications being submitted over the past 12 years, only nine have received approval. The Building Asset Management System has been reduced to, supposedly, inspections being undertaken every two years, which clearly is not good enough.
The school is in discussions with government, as I said, and I know the Chief Minister and other ministers will be going out to the school this Friday for the Science Fair so, perhaps, they might take the opportunity to have further inspections at the school. They will find that the science laboratories do not comply with occupational health and safety standards, the oval is unusable by students, and the gym and auditorium acoustics are so bad that it is difficult to hear what is going on. If it is the same as last year, that is where the Science Fair will be and it is incredibly noisy when there is a whole group of students and people in there.
I ask the minister for Education to take these facts and figures on board and encourage his department to take seriously the issues surrounding Taminmin College and the 1200 students and support staff who are achieving great things, as I highlighted in my adjournment debate last week. Clearly they need to have more support and more funding allocated.
I place on the record and compliment the work of the other schools of my electorate, notably the Bees Creek Primary School with Principal, John Tate. It is a very good, well-run school. The teachers are all good people, as are the support staff. They had a fundraiser, a quiz night, last Friday night which was hugely successful. I believe there were a couple of hundred people there who had a lot of fun.
The Humpty Doo Primary School Principal is Eric Smith. It is also a good school with many students, bursting at the seams, soon to complete expansions and infrastructure and improvements under the BER program.
St Francis of Assisi, the Catholic school, has Mel Bolwell as Principal. Middle Point School, is a school many people tend to overlook - and sometimes they like it that way. It is a small school out towards Fogg Dam and Narelle Dahl is the Principal. Litchfield Christian School has changed its name; it is now called Sattler Christian School. It has a great future ahead of it in regard to its expansion possibly middle school into senior school. Colin Smith is the Principal. Taminmin College has Miriam McDonald as the Principal.
They are all good schools, but they all have particular issues associated with them - growth pains, particularly Taminmin College. I ask the minister and urge the government to look at that college more closely and give it the appropriate funding it requires and deserves.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, education continues to be the No 1 priority of our government. Across my portfolios, there are countless examples of the importance of education in developing a healthy, prosperous, and vibrant Territory. The government is committed to providing what the people of the Territory have asked for in the 2030 strategic plan: for Territorians to meet or exceed the national standards for education and training; that education is promoted as a lifelong call and opportunity; and that Territorians have access to a world-class education system. The delivery of this commitment by the government is evident across all my portfolios, and I will speak about them in more detail now.
In Health, this government is proud of the opportunities we have created for school-leavers joining the health workforce to be employed in careers that will improve lives for their communities and families. In February this year, we celebrated the commencement of the Territory’s first ever full medical program. The Australian government has invested $27.8m for a new medical school facility at Charles Darwin University for first- and second-year medical students, and has expanded facilities on-site at Royal Darwin Hospital.
This initiative marks a major milestone in the history of the Territory’s health and education. For the first time ever, it is possible for Territorians to undertake their entire schooling, and tertiary education at a Territory university, remain in the community, learn about Territory health issues, and graduate as a doctor. You can go from preschool to becoming a doctor without ever leaving the Territory.
The school-leavers’ pathway commences with a new undergraduate Bachelor of Clinical Sciences program that leads 12 students into the sponsored medical program. These students will graduate with a double degree in science and medicine on completion of their studies. The three-year medical program commenced with 24 postgraduate students, fully sponsored by both the Australian and Northern Territory governments, with their university HECS fees covered. In return, the students are bonded to work for NT Health for two years at the completion of their studies. Ten of these students are Indigenous, and we are delighted to welcome these students with the potential to strengthen the cultural focus of health services.
Students will also engage in active learning at the Palmerston Super Clinic under the supervision of qualified doctors - the super clinic the CLP opposed and continues to oppose. These doctors will go a long way to turn around the traditional under-supply of GPs in the community, and will have a big impact on closing the gap on the rate of chronic disease. From 2014, we will see new, fully home-grown doctors ready to work in our hospitals and remote health centres.
A full medical program is great news for the Territory. It provides a great opportunity for our children to access a world-class education, a local, secure supply of skilled workforce, knowledge of our challenges and culture, and a magnet for experienced medicos and academics to come to the Territory to train and develop our future doctors.
My department is working closely with education and workforce providers to ensure a sustainable nursing and midwifery workforce, through development of multiple education pathways and employment pipelines. This includes engaging with Territory high schools’, senior colleges’ students and career advisors; the development of a school work experience program for future health professionals; support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student nurses and midwives through study assistance and cadetships; and study assistance programs for undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and midwifery education.
The CLP always asks what outcomes we achieve. I will tell you. Since June 2001, we have employed an additional 720 nurses in our hospitals and health centres throughout the Territory. That is an outcome. This brings the total number of nursing staff to just over 2000 by June 2011. We have also strengthened all our health services education by introducing the Certificate III in Dental Assistant training. This is now in its second year with four trainees located at Darwin Dental Clinic. The department is the only provider of this training in the Territory, and the establishment of this program is an example of the commitment to local workforce education development. Just another outcome, Madam Speaker.
Turning to child protection, one of the foundations of building opportunities for our children is to encourage them to participate in education. That encouragement starts at the family level. It is critical to support families, so we can ensure children get the most they can out of school, and develop a solid education. Part of ensuring our children get the most from school is ensuring they have a supportive home life. The Department of Children and Families provides support to Territory children and families.
The reality is, unless you have good schools you cannot get good students, and children are not given opportunities. That is the reason I have invested in the schools in my electorate and, together with the federal government, have put quite a bit of money into the primary and middle schools in my electorate.
Under the Building the Education Revolution, Alawa Primary School received $125 000 worth of new play equipment, shade structure, amphitheatre and pathways, and a $1.9m new library. Dripstone Middle School received $200 000 worth of new shade structure over outdoor sporting areas. Nakara received a $150 000 upgrade to storm water infrastructure and water reticulation, and $2.4m funding for assembly area coverage and a new canteen.
The Territory government has also contributed substantial funding to upgrade Territory schools, including in my electorate, with major renovations at Alawa Primary School, Nakara Primary School and Dripstone High School. We have invested nearly $10m. I recall the only thing Dripstone Middle School received under the CLP was a new flagpole. I know that because I was there with the member for Fong Lim, who was then the federal member for Solomon. That is the only thing they received - a flagpole. I do not recall if they gave a flag, just a flagpole. I believe I had to provide the flag.
The CLP allocated only $7m to child protection services. The current Labor government has a budget of $182m, a real commitment to build strong and healthy families, and the capacity to capitalise on the education services the Territory has to offer. To put it into perspective, child protection services have been expanded by the Northern Territory Labor government to include family support services, youth services, out-of-home care services and homelessness. We have created the position of the Children’s Commissioner, an independent position for the first time in the Territory, ensuring the wellbeing of our children. We have grown the workforce of the Department of Children and Families from around 100 people when we took over in 2001, to over 500 and will continue to support the growth of services to children and families in the Territory ...
_____________________
Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, would you mind if I acknowledge these young people?
Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 4, 5, and 6 Driver Primary School students, accompanied by Mr Bryan Downing and Ms Natasha Ryan. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
_____________________
Mr VATSKALIS: Welcome to parliament.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, minister.
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, earlier this year we reformed the Education Act to better help our system connect and help students and families who have not been able to see the value of education. For the first time ever, the new legislation makes it mandatory for parents of students to attend compulsory meetings about the child’s attendance, enrolment, or participation.
The Australian government announced a new income management initiative as a non-discriminative measure in November 2009, which includes a child protection measure, an additional tool in the management of child neglect. This aims to ensure when children are at school they are in the best possible position and able to concentrate and absorb the education that is on offer. Under this measure, the Department of Children and Families child protection officers can make a decision that Centrelink manages 70% of a person’s income support when it is determined that poor use of financial resources is contributing to child neglect or other negative outcome for a child. At this stage, we have 85 families under this scheme.
We manage their resources because they have failed to look after their children adequately. Income management, combined with enhanced family support, provides an opportunity to address child neglect issues and, in turn, address any education issues that may be present. Non-attendance can also be a trigger for child protection notification, which will trigger an offer of resources being made available to support a child and their family if required.
Another positive step towards our commitment to education can be seen in the Alice Springs Youth Hub which was announced as part of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan. The Alice Springs Youth Hub is on the site of the former ANZAC High School. It was established to support a coordinated and integrated approach to youth services and programs in Alice Springs by providing a youth-friendly centralised site for youth services and organisations; a venue or base for youth events and activities; space for case conferencing, coordination and planning; and alternate education programs; and work and skill programs.
In January 2011, the Alice Springs Family Support Centre, the Youth at Risk Team, the Alice Springs Youth Services Coordinator, and the Youth Street Outreach team from the Department of Children and Families relocated to the youth hub. An amount of $1.1m has been committed for capital development of this site. The capital works will improve disability access, convert classrooms into office and meeting spaces, and provide for alternate education services.
The Alice Springs Youth Hub is staffed by a receptionist and a part-time activities officer. The Alice Springs Youth Services Coordinator provides an overall coordination role. This position also has a broader remit to coordinate youth service provision outside the hub. Social enterprise is an important part of the hub, with a community consultation group for the social enterprise caf already meeting every three weeks. The caf, when established, will provide training and employment opportunities for young people.
In late March this year, the hub was the venue of the Northern Territory Youth Week celebrations, including the opening event. Over 350 young people attended the celebrations and activities that were held during the week.
Alternative educational programs also operate from the hub. In February 2011, a youth worker from DCF and a teacher for the Department of Education and Training commenced alternate educational programs.
The Family Responsibility Program was announced by the Northern Territory government in 2008 as a statutory program to improve parental responsibility and control for children and young people involved in antisocial behaviour, including truancy and offending. The legislation provides for six government agencies to require parents to enter into family responsibility agreements to improve their parental control over their child or adolescent involved in antisocial behaviour. The agencies include the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Housing, the Northern Territory Police, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Education and Training.
Failure to comply with an agreement can result in application to the court for an inquiry into family circumstance for a family responsibility order. The Northern Territory government provided new funding in 2008 for the establishment of two dedicated family support centres in Darwin and Alice Springs to provide the required case management and family support for young people and for their parents, carers, families subject to a family responsibility agreement. It has also co-located a senior teacher from the Department of Education and Training to assist with links to school services and truancy problems.
The Northern Territory government will be allocated $25.2m this financial year to deliver reforms to the child protection and family service system, including to enhance the family support system, enabling an allocation in 2011-12 of $3.6m. The Department of Education and Training is leading the work with the Australian government around the establishment of integrated children and family centres. The Northern Territory was allocated five child and family centres under the National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood. The sites for the centres are Palmerston, Yuendumu, Maningrida, Gunbalanya, and Ngukurr.
DET has linked the establishment of the integrated child and family centres with our Bright Start, Strong Future initiative to form the integrated family service agenda. The Department of Children and Families has a key part in this agenda. The first two sites for the Bright Start, Strong Futures initiative are Groote Island and Gunbalanya. An integrated service model for child and family support centres will build on existing service provision addressing services caps, increasing community capacity, and growing a skilled workforce - and they have been developed.
An agreed strategic approach for future investment in child and family services is essential to expand support for vulnerable children and families. To this end, a strategic investment framework is being developed to provide a structured approach to reforming and building a capacity of the non-profit sector, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child, Youth and Families Peak Body. The framework will be developed through close consultation with the NT Families and Children Advisory Council, the Northern Territory Council of Social Services, and other key peak organisations.
Agreement support has been provided from key NT government agencies and the Western Australian government to establish child safety and wellbeing teams. The teams will be placed in the 20 Territory growth towns and will take a broad role in promoting child and community safety. This will allow more targeted discussion and planning for children and families requiring support or intervention.
It is this Northern Territory Labor government that laid down the dollars and initiatives required to address the needs of children in the Territory; to support our families so children can achieve their best. This is a challenging and far-reaching process, but the Northern Territory government is absolutely committed to making real changes for the wellbeing of Territory children and families. Children are the most vulnerable people in our society. All children are entitled to live safely in a circumstance that enables them to thrive physically, intellectually, and emotionally.
When children are encouraged to pursue education, they have the opportunity to undertake tertiary study in the Territory. I, as the minister for Resources, offer a scholarship for young Territorians so they can take university study in Earth Science, Geology, Mining or Petroleum-related professional fields. These are fields in which we cannot find enough people to employ. The industry, and the government, is crying out for people to be employed. We have now resorted to bringing people in from overseas just to fill some of these gaps.
We provide scholarships to young Territorians. This scholarship is a financial assistance of $12 000 per annum for three years, assistance with gaining local employment during university vacation, and opportunities to develop skills and knowledge in the mining and petroleum industries for a student studying, or proposing to study, towards obtaining an appropriate qualification. To date, two students have completed their studies under the scholarship and both are now working in the local exploration and mining industry. I believe one other, the niece of the member for Goyder, has also gained a scholarship and is currently studying under this program.
Education is about training our own in responding to skills shortages in our mining and energy industries. I have to say, our government was the first-ever government to put these scholarships in place. It is a good initiative because not only does it support local children to be educated, but we ensure we are then able to bring the children back, young adults, to be employed either in the department or in the mining industry.
It is not only the mines department that does this, fisheries research and aquatic resource management has also provided places for numerous work experience students who are interested in a career in fisheries. Departmental staff also participate in Science Week, run by CSIRO, where they have given presentations on aspects of fisheries science to groups of schoolchildren.
Aquatic resource management staff attended the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation’s Come and Try days at Lake Alexander last year. This event invites Years 5, 6, and 7 students to try various sporting activities. Aquatic research management staff tutor kids in a range of fishing-related activities such as casting and bait collecting.
Marine rangers’ training, in conjunction with Charles Darwin University and the Water Police, provides a nationally-accredited Fisheries Compliance Certificate II which has been very successful. This course was run in 2009-10 for some 44 Indigenous male rangers. In 2011, the course has been run to include 12 Indigenous female rangers. The course delivers seafood industry units, including being linked to Coxswain Certificate Training, one of the units related to fisheries education programs. Since then, many of the ranger groups undertake talks in their local school about fisheries education.
In 2008, Fisheries engaged the Anindilyakwa Sea Rangers to undertake a survey to determine the impact of customary harvest of sharks and stingrays. The sea rangers worked with the local primary schools to engage school students in this survey. The project was extremely popular amongst the children, and gave them a good understanding of the local fish, shark and ray species they encountered. This, then, led to the establishment of the junior rangers and apprentice rangers. The Fisheries Indigenous Development Unit has also delivered school talks to primary school classes on their role in Fisheries as marine rangers.
In 2010, a presentation was delivered to Indigenous students at Jingili Primary School in conjunction with the Larrakia Rangers.
Madam Speaker, I now turn to Primary Industry and education. The Department of Resources’ Pastoral Production Team provides technical advice and assistance to the producers and the general community, which includes schools. In particular, we have had an ongoing association with Girraween Primary School over the past two to four years, and the department has provided support for the Sustainable School in Action Field Day, where officers attend the field day and the farm activities of this annual event, and provides the school farm with cows from the Department of Resources’ farm. Beatrice Hill Farm staff have had significant input into the Girraween School Farm establishment since its commencement.
Since the establishment of Taminmin College, the Department of Resources’ pastoral officers have had a continuous advisory role in the areas of primary production, animal production, weed control, and pastures. Each year, several students undertake work experience at our Douglas Daly Research Farm with our extension officers. Douglas Daly Research Farm also hosts day tours for students from Taminmin College. Beatrice Hill Farm has provided many work venues for VET classes from Taminmin College in such activities as artificial insemination, weaning, branding, and other animal husbandry procedures over many years.
The department provided technical input and equipment to the Alawa Primary School Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association rearing project in 2009. Alawa Primary School is the first primary school in the Darwin area to have its own farm. Now it has developed from a small farm to a fruit garden, where the kids grow and harvest the fruit which they then cook in their own kitchen. So, kids not only learn how to grow food, but also to utilise the food to prepare nutritious meals.
In conclusion, education is a fundamental component of the Territory 2030 strategy, and the Territory is well placed to deliver a comprehensive and integrated education system which supports children to access a world-class education right here in the Territory. For the first time, a child can go from preschool to becoming a doctor in the Territory without leaving the Territory, thanks to the initiatives of our government. Children and families have access to support where required, when required, to ensure children have the ability to capitalise on the education revolution that has taken place under this government.
Madam Speaker, times have changed. I remember when I first went to school, the first thing I had with me was a slate and a pointer. We actually carved on the slate the first letters and the first numbers, and we had to wipe it away with a wet sponge - that was, I suppose, many centuries ago. Then, we graduated to the pencil, and then, of course, to the pen. I remember the excitement when I got my first ‘big’ pen and I was able to write in blue ink. Of course, it was a bit difficult when I made a mistake and I had to erase it, because the common eraser did not work, so we had to buy the special eraser. I remember my excitement as a child when I went to the library and got my first book. Today, I do not go to the library. Today, I have my iPad and I have to decide from about 26 000 books. Things have changed from the old times with the slate, and the old library in a small room, to something where you do not need a slate, a wet sponge, or a library, because I have my library here on my desk.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I join with my colleagues on this side of the House in supporting the statement on this government’s commitment to delivering a smart Territory through quality education and training. As a parent, and someone who attended school a while ago, as well as having my portfolio areas as a government minister, I would like to contribute to this statement.
As a member of this government’s team, I am very proud of our handling of education. We have two former teachers - the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly – who bring their invaluable experience and knowledge on education into debate on the important issues of education in Caucus and Cabinet. Both members have experience of teaching in remote areas in the Northern Territory where we have challenges, and their presence in government is important for us to address the real concerns in education.
In particular, we have much more to do in Indigenous education and remote schools. The minister spoke passionately about the Every Child, Every Day strategy when he brought that to our Caucus and Cabinet. We are heading in the right direction with the Every Child, Every Day strategy. It is this government’s serious commitment to delivering a smart Territory through quality education and training. With two former teachers in our Caucus, we have robust debates and ideas about how we can address that and deliver on our commitment.
What is our commitment? As a Labor government, our foremost commitment is about improving enrolments, attendance, and participation of young Territorians through a really focused effort and strong leadership, as well as the clear and strong strategies that are needed. It is also about real partnerships. Every Child, Every Day - as the minister said, and this government continues to say on a consistent basis - is everyone’s responsibility and business.
Turning to my responsibilities as a parent, growing up three young boys in Alice Springs in the public education system has been an important lesson for me. We all face challenges as parents, and young boys particularly tend to need a bit more motivation to get up every day and get to school. I have had my challenges. However, I am proud that my two older boys have completed Year 12 education and moved on to their chosen careers after education. My youngest son is now at Centralian Middle School and thoroughly enjoying it. One of the successes of this government in engaging and improving attendance has been the Clontarf Football Academies. All three of my boys have been part of that very successful program.
As a parent, it is a matter of reinforcing and continually talking to our children. With my sons, it is what I did continually; getting them up in the mornings, encouraging them about the importance of education, and to think about what jobs they wanted to participate in when they left school. It sounds fairly basic and what all parents should do; however, it is amazing how much of a challenge it is for many parents trying to motivate kids to go to school.
Congratulations must go to many of the schools in Alice Springs as well. I get around often to many of the public and non-government schools in Alice Springs, and there are some great examples and creative programs. One I am familiar with is the Gillen Primary School in Alice Springs. The principal, who has been there for a long time, has done a fantastic job and has built a really good team around him at Gillen Primary School and is seeing some really good results.
One of the commitments of this government with Every Child, Every Day, is about building relationships. There is probably no other school in the Territory that has been able to do that better than Gillen Primary School. They have a very good relationship with the Larapinta Valley Town Camp in Alice Springs and the Amoonguna community, which is 20 km south of Alice. The principal and the strong team he has at the school have been able to build good, strong partnerships and relationships with those two communities. They are reaping the rewards of the hard work of building those relationships over many years.
As I said, they have some really innovative programs. My wife is working on the Little Strong Yerrampes program through Gillen Primary School, which is an outreach program. She is going out to the young mothers in camps at Amoonguna delivering kits to help kids prepare for preschool. That is an important part of a child’s development. We talked about this at the childcare meeting in Alice Springs; that the early years of development for young kids begins the day they are born - probably before that. My wife’s program is working with mothers of little kids getting ready for preschool, delivering resource kits to the home. They are sitting down with the mothers and fathers and getting them to sit down with their kids and start doing some of the basic cognitive learning things kids look for at that age to stimulate their minds and get them ready for preschool.
My congratulations to Gillen Primary School and the principal for some really innovative projects and good relationship building that has been done. They are reaping the rewards.
Turning to our Every Child, Every Day strategy, there is no doubt about our government’s commitment to those core principles of what we need to do to provide a really good quality education for kids in the Territory, no matter where they live. It is based on evidence, and the evidence is strong that attending school regularly, finishing school, and going on to further education and training leads to better job prospects.
Last week in parliament we debated northern Australia and the challenges we face. For me, particularly with my electorate in remote communities, it is all about jobs, jobs, jobs. Without a good education, those job prospects are certainly much harder.
Also in relation to the Every Child, Every Day strategy, one of the priority action areas that is important - there is no doubt about it, they are all priority action areas – is No 3, making schools safe and welcoming places. I go back to Gillen Primary School. That is what they have been able to do, along with building strong relationships within the school and outside the school, particularly with the Larapinta Valley Town Camp and Amoonguna.
Though my experiences as a bush MLA, I know that schools are really the foundation of communities. In tough times, in good times, you always find the school is a hub of activity and support for the broader community. Without naming communities, some communities in Stuart have had some pretty rough times over the years, and I have always found strength within the school community. Priority action No 3 of making schools safe and welcoming is so important in building strong relationships and getting the good quality education outcomes we all desire.
Some of the key strategies under that priority action No 3 include Families as First Teachers, again looking at the Little Strong Yerrampes program at Gillen. It is about supporting those parents, stimulating the need for getting kids engaged in education at a very young age, even before preschool. Families as First Teachers is also an important program and we need to continue to support all parents across the Territory no matter where they live to take on that role as their children’s first teachers.
Partnerships with non-government organisations help middle and senior school students re-engage with school. Programs such as the Clontarf Football Academy are more than just about football. Football is the vehicle to engage young Aboriginal men. It is so important, as the Chief Minister said yesterday, with 120 young Indigenous men this year graduating Year 12 in the Northern Territory – an outstanding success. The other partnership with non-government organisations is the Sporting Chance Academies for the girls and the young ladies in our schools. My hat off to people like Ricky Grace, who is using sport as a vehicle to engage young girls in our community to get back into school and stay at school.
Turning to my portfolio areas, there is a great deal of opportunity. I suppose things are changing rapidly - aren’t they? - with ICT. We heard this week about the Nightcliff school. I would love to be able to get out there, minister, to have a look at their plans and the direction they are going in being an ICT hub. I am particularly interested in that. ICT is changing rapidly, and there is probably no more reason why this government welcomes the National Broadband Network. The benefits of the National Broadband Network, as we all know - we debate it often in this House - will result in high-speed connectivity for every Australian home, workplace and, more importantly, schools.
Particularly in remote areas of the Northern Territory, we rely on really good broadband access - whether it be wireless or through the fibre. Many of the schools in my electorate have access to really good ICT services and infrastructure, and the benefits are enormous for them in delivering education programs and outcomes.
The Minister for Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources touched a little on programs in my other portfolios of Natural Resources, Environment and Sport. There are enormous opportunities in linking these programs into our education system. That is what this government is doing. I place on the Parliamentary Record some of those programs. For example, in 2009-10 we initiated the Be Crocwise education program. This program aims to increase community awareness of the dangers posed by crocodiles in and around our natural waterways. This program delivered school presentations to 94 schools in 2010 and so far this year. The schools include schools in Darwin and the rural areas and across the Katherine region, the Douglas Daly region, Wadeye and Arnhem Land. This program is evidence of the government’s ability to recognise the issues and implement effective, relevant, and targeted education programs which benefit our entire community.
This government is dedicated to developing career pathways for school students through Natural Resources, Environment, and Conservation programs. In 2010, the Territory government introduced the Taminmin College Year 10 Conservation and Land Management Certificate I program. Students learn to identify plants in the field and gain hands-on experience in seed collection, propagation, and maintenance of native plants in a nursery situation to fulfil the requirements of their study units. In addition, students visit various habitats and experience keeper talks and behind-the-scene tours to observe and identify a wide variety of native animals at the Territory Wildlife Park.
This year, we initiated a special education work experience program for Darwin High School. This program was a joint initiative between the Darwin High School and Territory Wildlife Park to expose students to gain hands-on experience in plant identification, propagation, and maintenance of a nursery for work placement. These programs have multiple benefits. They improve awareness of environmental issues within our schools and the community, while also contributing to study and education outcomes for our students.
In partnership with the Commonwealth government, we have effectively implemented the Adopt a School program in Central Australia. The Adopt a School partnership was established as the step before work experience to engage young Aboriginal students from Yipirinya School by exposing them in a culturally safe environment to different jobs. This program has led to improved self-esteem and employability skills in this growth sector of our local population.
This year marks the second year of a joint program between the Alice Springs Desert Park and the Centralian Middle School. This program is designed specifically for students from the Indigenous Transition Unit and has been developed to fit into the Northern Territory curriculum framework. While this year’s program involves growing Sturt’s desert peas for sale, through undertaking this program the students develop valuable skills in maths and English. It also gives the students a good introduction into the workplace and basic work skills, such as time management and adhering to rules and regulations of a workplace.
In addition to the obvious educational and social benefits that are gained through these programs, students are also exposed to a wide variety of career options, including zoo keeping, tour guiding, maintenance work, horticulture, nursery operations, administration, hospitality, records, retail, and education.
I place on the public record my thanks to the great teachers at Centralian Middle School who are involved in this program, but also to the staff and rangers at the Alice Springs Desert Park and the many individual businesses in Alice Springs which are getting behind this program.
Another action is the Territory government’s commitment to the Junior Ranger Program. Through this program, students learn about their natural environment, actively participate in outdoor activities that are directly relevant to environmental management, and offer opportunities to meet with park rangers and scientists. The Junior Ranger in Schools program is a strategic transition from the traditional Junior Ranger Program to embedding this program into environmental educational frameworks within schools. It provides hands-on real-life science in secondary school to link to the school curriculum, linking up the community and business to schools, and is supporting early career pathways through VET into conservation and land management.
This program has been trialled at Kormilda College and, to date, this program has been very successful. The program is moving from being a stand-alone science elective for Indigenous education students to one that will be embedded into the curriculum and, ultimately, delivered to all students in the school. This is a unique educational opportunity for our youth, providing them with clear pathways for future employment in this field.
This government has provided opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to join our Parks and Wildlife service, through the Indigenous Apprenticeship Scheme. This program provides local people with the opportunity to undertake on-the-job training while in paid employment. In addition to education and training benefits that are experienced through this program, apprentices are also exposed to career development pathways and are able to complement formal training with on-the--job exposure to real-life situations.
One of the most beneficial forms of education is through learning from the experts. This government provides school students with opportunities to learn from on-the-ground land managers, park rangers, project officers and scientists. Personnel are available to visit schools to discuss a variety of natural resource and environmental issues with students, and to actively participate in on-the-ground activities. We have promoted school visits for a variety of issues, including threatened species, bio-cultural knowledge, plant ecology, invasive animal species, weeds, fire, and water conservation. Such educational programs provide students with access to information from experienced on-the-ground personnel.
The Territory government has also promoted education in natural resources and environment through the provision of funding. We recognise providing schools with opportunities to develop education programs that have relevance to the students and the community will result in greater learning outcomes, both now and into the future. Since the implementation of the EnvironmeNT Grants program in 2004, we have contributed over $200 000 to schools to provide opportunities for students to participate in environmental projects throughout the Northern Territory ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the minister be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank the member for Barkly for the extension.
Schools across the Northern Territory have benefited from this opportunity to be involved in projects relevant to climate change, water conservation, waste management, invasive species management, and wildlife conservation. Not only do these programs provide exposure to important issues facing the Territory, they enable these students to develop skills in land management activities and become actively involved in issues that are important to them and their local communities.
This year, 13 schools were each awarded $2000 through the schools category of the EnvironmeNT Grants Program and the recipients and projects included the Maningrida CSC Fresh from the Pond project; Umbakumba creative recycling; Milyakburra School’s native tree propagation; Shepherdson College’s Junior Ranger Program; Jilkminggan School’s Keep the Dogs Out; Nhulunbuy Christian School’s self-sufficiency in remote NT vegetable gardening; Bradshaw Primary School with the Irrkerlantye Unit’s food preparation garden; Warruwi School’s worms and waste recycling; Nakara Primary School’s From Little Things; Shepherdson College again with biodiversity monitoring of Elcho Island School; Nightcliff Primary School’s native flora and native fauna; Millner Primary School’s Save the Food Scraps; and Belyuen’s beautiful bush garden.
Turning to Central Australia, the Territory government also offers $12 000 in school grants each year through another program. These grants are specifically focused on water conservation programs and activities aimed at encouraging schools and their local community to become water-wise. Through this program schools are visited by a water conservation officer who teaches the students about water conservation and management. This program has outcomes for the natural environment through improved water conservation, as well as enhanced education of the community as a whole.
With joint management of our national parks and working with rangers, traditional owners, and the wider community, we are also exposing students to a two-way learning process. This informal learning experience provides individuals with opportunities to gain improved awareness of different cultural and belief systems, alternative governance arrangements and processes, while developing new skills to balance the needs and values of different stakeholders. Such educational opportunities are unique to the Territory. This government will continue to identify, support, and foster these valuable learning opportunities for all Territorians.
Quickly turning to my electorate, much discussion has been around the Building Education Revolution projects. Schools in my electorate of Stuart have benefited significantly; particularly at Amanbidji, Barunga, Bulla Camp, Kalkaringi, Lajamanu, Laramba, Manyallaluk, Mataranka, Mt Allan, Pigeon Hole, Pine Creek, Stirling, Ti Tree, Timber Creek, Willowra, Wugularr, Yarralin, and Yuendumu. All these schools have benefited from projects including things such as covered outdoor learning areas, classroom refurbishments, resource centres, a multipurpose pavilion, grey water irrigation systems, sports storage sheds, fencing, and general repairs.
One of my priorities as Minister for Central Australia - and my colleague, the member for Casuarina touched on it - was the Youth Action Plan for Alice Springs. There has been a range of achievements under the plan which are making a real impact on youth-related issues and helping make our community safer. Engaging young people in our schools and keeping them there is a key plank of the Youth Action Plan. This means investing in quality education facilities, educators, and programs. The Centralian Middle School, a major achievement of the Youth Action Plan, is going from strength to strength and is doing a great job in engaging our kids and giving them a first-class education.
Under the Youth Action Plan, we also have implemented a No School, No Service policy which has been well supported by local businesses in Alice Springs. 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 is not cool.
This year, all nine Alice Springs government schools received funding as part of the Youth Action Plan to support innovative programs to get the kids to school and encourage them to stay there. The $252 000 in grants support the Every, Child Every Day strategy which stresses the importance of going to school each day and getting a good education to prepare them for a working life in the future.
A key component of the Youth Action Plan is re-engagement of disadvantaged secondary aged students. I recently welcomed Edmund Rice Education Australia to the Alice Springs Youth Hub. Edmund Rice will be running an outreach support and bridging program from the youth hub in a first for the Territory. Edmund Rice will work with students who need alternative programs, with the aim of developing career aspirations and pathways. They are nationally recognised as having expertise in working with the complex needs of disadvantaged young people and, through the youth hub will have two educators, two youth workers and an administration office with 20 students initially involved.
This is the first time such a program has operated in the Northern Territory, and I look forward to hearing more of its progress in getting kids re-engaged into schooling and moving into employment.
Madam Speaker, it is a clear contrast when you look at the absolute lack of planning and ideas from the opposition when it comes to education or supporting young people. Education is a key priority for this government because it provides our community with opportunities both now and into the future.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I wish to speak briefly on the education statement. First, I congratulate the schools in my electorate of Braitling. The principals and teachers have done such an amazing job – Living Waters School, Larapinta Primary School, Yeperenye, OLSH, Bath Street, and Braitling Primary School. I have a very good relationship with all those schools. I sit on some school councils, and believe everyone out there is trying to do the best for the children and students.
Occasionally I approach the minister for Education for things to make improvements to our schools. Air-conditioning has been put in place and some infrastructure work has recently been done. Braitling Primary School continues to strive for improvements for its kids. It has had difficulties, particularly with a large cohort of students turning up with emotional issues which affect them when they come to school to learn. I have worked with the minister for Education to make services available to Braitling Primary School to ensure the principal, deputy principal and the staff can try to get better servicing to those students. Some of those services are already available to Larapinta.
Recently, we moved the 40 km/h sign for the school zone on Head Street in Braitling, which is a positive move designed to get people to slow down when cars are entering the car park and students are getting in and out. I have also been fortunate enough to have the council bring out their little smiley face speed sign to indicate to drivers when they are going above 40 km/h. Anything we can do to slow people down is a good thing.
I heard the member for Stuart speak about the work of the principal at Gillen, David Glyde, who does a fantastic job at Gillen Primary School. I congratulate the work the schools in my electorate are doing in trying to re-engage with, particularly, Indigenous students, through engaging their families, and also the work they undertake in developing relationships with families, travelling around the town camps and around town to get those kids to school.
It is not like a child will live in the same house for their primary school years of life and go to the same school. People move, and what might previously have been thought of as catchment areas for individual schools - kids are now going to different schools all over town.
Braitling School uses a couple of buses to pick up its kids. It has around 45 kids it picks up every day and takes to school. One of the buses is over 30 years old and is in dire straits and needs replacing. If the school does not have the funds to repair or replace the bus, there will be a number of kids who cannot get to school. I ask the minister to look into that.
I also ask the minister to look into the need for Braitling school to have a bus shelter, or a shelter of sorts, provided for the kids who stand in the hot sun while waiting for a bus or for parents to pick them up in the afternoon. It is council land, but the school definitely needs some type of shelter provided on that land so they are protected from the sun.
Larapinta school is doing much better than many in NAPLAN results. Their school attendance is quite good. On a Friday morning, when in town and available, I sit in and see their school assembly and how things are moving along. There is difficulty with the Larapinta Primary School and Living Waters Primary School directly across the road from it on Albrecht Drive with traffic problems every morning when parents drop off their kids, and in the afternoon when parents pick up their kids. There needs to be some alternative modelling done on how we can provide a safer environment for children to be dropped off and picked up. I will work on that further and try to provide some information to the minister for Education.
I read the statement with interest. I did not think there was much in there. I have many different pieces of commentary from the statement, so I will just go through a few different things, bit by bit. I will go straight to page 3 where the minister has provided, in the second paragraph, some comparison on a like-schools basis saying that Territory schools are as good as, and if not better, than other schools in Australia. Well, that just reflects the conversations we had last week about two-speed comparisons and treating urban areas different to in the bush. I will not go on any further about that, but these racially-motivated comparisons are not right.
The minister for Business, it might have been - or it might have been the member for Stuart - spoke a little about VET education. I cannot remember exactly who spoke about the VET component in schools. It is taken in within the statement. It talked about 10 000 apprentice and training commencements. With the alignment of VET training into the education system in school and high schools, we have to be careful we get the balance right between humanities education and Vocational Education and Training education to ensure that, yes, while it is good to get apprentices and trainees - and they will help get your 10 000 numbers which is what your ultimate goal is; just getting the numbers not getting the kids trained - you have to be careful the humanities still continue. While we have CDU out there trying to become a more vibrant university on a national scale - and I recognise CDU is moving into the model of overseas students because that is where the money is – if we keep moving broadly towards a VET model in our public schools, there will not be enough people to go to high schools in the future. So, we have to get that model right.
That is a concern with Centralian Middle School at the moment. I am told there is a bit of a reluctance to replace some of the retiring humanities teachers and move into VET. If CMS in Alice Springs does go to completely VET and removes that humanities component, there will be fewer people going to uni, then you can see the future in CDU. If there are no kids in Alice going to uni apart from mature-aged students, it becomes quite an issue.
I also noticed within the statement comments about childcare subsidies. The minister also spoke recently about mobile preschools that go out into communities. Those mobile preschools are only good if people are actually turning up. I am aware of quite a number of staff who travel many hours to get out to communities to run mobile preschools, to find that no one actually turns up. The mobile preschool appears to be vacant, with no people, no students - a complete waste of time, effort, and money. That is reflective of a whole heap of things that we do in this industry in servicing and programs.
What makes it worse is you have assistants to these preschool teachers, and there are more assistants than there are preschool teachers who travel out there. The assistants often do not turn up for work, or they do turn up and there are no kids to put through the preschool. When there is, there are actually no facilitates for the preschool to be running, and they are out there sitting under a tree somewhere. You wonder how this preschool is actually working when the preschool teacher and the assistant do not have a table or a desk, there are no chairs for the kids, and there are no facilities, toys, or entertainment for the kids to actually participate in.
On page 11 of the statement, there are some ideas around the target 180 program and the shift in the time of the school holidays, and running alternate school sessions. While at the outset those appear to be very good ideas, and I hope they move well, I believe you have to look at different ways of doing things, particularly in a more modern age with technology, and with different seasonal opportunities in the Northern Territory. The Every Child, Every Day strategy, where kids are starting to get paid for turning up to school, is ridiculous. Parents already get paid to send their kids to school in many cases - whether that be through parenting payment, the dole or otherwise. It is the responsibility of every parent to send their kids to school. For government to be involved in the job of paying to send their kids to school, I find absolutely atrocious.
We should be looking at the punitive measures on the parents for when kids are not being sent to school, rather than rewarding parents for sending their kids to school. The reward is your child gets a good education and has a future in life. None of this ‘Let us give them $10 for turning up’. That is absolutely crazy. I am very keen to find out what is happening with the fines for parents who have not been sending their kids to school. There was the idea that there was a $200 fine for parents who did not send their kids to school, and not one fine has been issued in 10 years under this government. Now, they have moved to the fine model where it is $2000 and, as I understand from the shadow Education spokesperson, the member for Brennan, no one has been fined $2000 yet either. I believe it is way out of control to fine a parent $2000, because a parent is never going to be able to afford that in most instances. The $200 fine was fair and reasonable, and should have been applied on a frequent basis for parents who were not sending their kids to school.
All this huff and puff by the federal Labor government’s Jenny Macklin, the minister for Indigenous Affairs, and others, about welfare quarantining for parents who do not send their kids to school is all it is - huff and puff. It is like the discussion paper issued yesterday on income support reform in participation required through mutual obligation - it is just huff and puff. Nothing happens, nothing changes. In the six trial sites, barely anything has been done, and kids still are not attending. That is why we see in Budget Paper No 3 from this year, things like only 15% of Indigenous students attended over 80% of the time in the middle years education.
The figures for the Northern Territory are appalling and outrageous. That is why, in the Johnson report on page 14, it said:
- The capacity of the Northern Territory government is a particular concern, as evidenced by its performance to date in the housing and schooling domains.
Unless the Territory government is going to start applying those measures - and the federal government has a responsibility in this area too - in its delivery of education, it is not performing across a wide range of areas. That is why there was an intervention, because it was not doing its job - and it is still not doing its job.
What I found interesting in the Johnson review, when I looked through, particularly in education - let me say at the outset they identified about 232 Indigenous programs in particular, and there needs to be some rationalisation. I went through the education component and found there were 21 Commonwealth programs for early childhood. I went through the schooling and otherwise. I would not mind reading through some of these programs so people can start to understand how there is money going everywhere - and I will not go through the dollar value. However, with all the programs, everything that is offered, we still only have 15% of middle year school attendance for Indigenous kids. These are some of the programs:
Supporting Families - NTER (Northern Territory Emergency Intervention) crches.
My colleague, the member for Fong Lim, yesterday and last week, spoke about the findings from the Centre for Independent Study and how their analysis identified that about $100 000 is spent on remote Indigenous Australians every year. In a family of six - a mother and father and four kids – that is $600 000 every year that is spent trying to improve the social outcomes for those people. That $600 000 could buy you a nice little spot in Toorak in Melbourne, or Vaucluse in Sydney, or somewhere like that, and set people up with an opportunity to have greater access to services - recognising it is not just this year the family would get $600 000, next year they would get $600 000 too.
When you start to put in place the outcomes being achieved and the targets being set in the budget, what the Johnson report talks about with all the programs that are running, and the analysis by the Centre for Independent Studies, you start thinking if we are spending $600 000 a year on a family in a remote location, why are we not achieving anything?
The minister said on the back page of his statement that the opposition says it is all doom and gloom. When you look at the funding that goes into it, for the outcomes that are being achieved, there is a need for different things to be done. Moving into the model of a punitive approach for parents who do not send their kids to school is important because parents, in many instances, still are not doing that.
That is not to say we should not be looking at what is happening in the area of alcohol with family breakdown; how that is affecting kids going through the FACS system, how it is affecting kids who are not attending school. The SIHIP debate also comes into it because, if kids cannot get a good night’s sleep, they cannot go to school. If people are sleeping in humpies or under sheets of tin, how do you expect those kids to go to school?
In the FACS system of child protection, the kids get passed from one family to another family to another family because there is no permanency planning involved, the system has broken down, the staff are overworked, or there are not enough carers to come on board for a number of reasons. It is hard to get educational outcomes in that system. When parents are chronic alcohol or substance abusers, trying to get those people to take responsibility for sending their kids to school is very difficult.
We had a debate the other day with the minister for Corrections about putting all the prisoners back on the streets. Once they are on the streets, they are going to teach them how to drive so they will not be caught again. That is a problem because we are not addressing the issue of alcohol and substance abuse in the first place which could see kids get to school, which would not see people go into the gaol, or the Corrections system. I find that very difficult and things need to change in that area.
I would like the minister, in his response to the ministerial statement, to detail what his plans are for the outstanding 40-plus homeland learning centres to convert them to real schools. I am sure he will be able to do that. At the current rate we are going, things will never change. I recognise there have been a couple done, and it would be good if the minister could provide us with a solution. I congratulate places like Baniyala which is moving towards full school attendance and trying to solve the problems of their homeland. What they are doing is fantastic and I am looking forward to a visit soon to look at their economic approaches they are going to try to take forward into the future; how they want to move into a model of homeownership and self-determination where they control their country, not anyone else. That is a fantastic outcome. How education fits into that will be good to see.
I know they are doing a positive job and I congratulate Andy Butterwell and Mark Hughes and the Centre for Independent Studies who are doing a lot of work out there. That is very good. If homelands in other communities took that responsibility and ownership and had that empowerment to be able to do that, we would start to see greater outcomes.
I call on the Northern Land Council to speed up its efforts, or make some efforts, in providing a whole-of-township leasing back to the people who live at Baniyala, the traditional owners, so they can start providing those solutions for their future. The current bureaucratic approach and the correspondence between Jenny Macklin, the minister for Indigenous Affairs and the NLC means these people on the ground, who are on their own country, cannot get access to their own land with some sort of security of land tenure. It is a problem and the NLC should be lifting its game in trying to find solutions. They should not just be going for individual leases. They should be going to head leasing for the whole community, where they can take over a 99-year lease, similar to the ACT model, so they can then start to develop a market and an economy and see some positive changes into the future.
I recognise that the government has a long way to go to achieve educational outcomes in the Northern Territory. As the federal Cabinet Johnson report said, there is serious concern about the capacity of the Northern Territory government to actually achieve outcomes in education and housing.
Madam Speaker, I concur with that report and all of my colleagues on this side of the Chamber recognise the inadequacies and the failures of the Henderson Labor government. I know the minister for Education will try to make improvements. I have asked him to respond to some of those questions, particularly around the shelter at the bus stop at Braitling but, also, on the homeland learning centres. We will wait for his response.
Debate suspended.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise you of the presence in the gallery of Years 10, 11 and 12 Palmerston Senior College Japanese exchange students from Aridagawa, accompanied by Ms Jacqui Carroll, Mrs Fran Davies and Ms Reiko Kawai. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
MOTION
Note Statement – Education in the Northern Territory
Note Statement – Education in the Northern Territory
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I am very proud to speak on this statement this afternoon because there is nothing more important for my government than to invest in education and see stronger education outcomes for all Territory kids. It is something we, on this side of the House, are passionate about, and is a subject we continue to work to reform and see significant investment into our education system.
The budget this year delivered a record $930m into our education system, just short of $1bn, a very significant commitment to education across the Northern Territory. The Leader of the Opposition and opposition members rant and rave about dollars and outcomes. In responding to this debate, if he feels we are not getting the outcomes for the investments then it would be good to see what parts of the investment the opposition would cut.
We also have an extra 407 teaching staff in our schools since 2001. That is a huge increase in our teaching staff, and children benefit through reductions in class sizes and extra specialist teachers that schools are able to put on as a result of the additional teaching staff increase.
The NAPLAN participation rates have improved by 14.5%. Why is that important? It was a big step forward taken in this nation to introduce compulsory testing for all students in this country in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 in literacy, numeracy and writing to ensure where schools and kids are falling behind, our system can reach out to assist those schools to improve, and also for parents to really have an understanding about how their child is going and engage in that serious conversation with schools and teachers about how their children can improve.
That has been a very important national reform not without controversy, particularly amongst teacher unions and principals’ associations. However, now the system is in place and understood, it appears to me that opposition is receding because the fears of teacher unions and principals’ associations that, somehow, governments and authorities would use that information to name and shame underperforming schools and teachers, has not occurred. What has occurred is a whole raft of policies through the COAG framework to assist underperforming schools, and there is very significant funding available to do that.
We can all identify underperforming schools against national benchmarks and standards, essentially by a postcode. Looking at income levels around postcodes, you can see where high-performing schools will be. The further the changes in incomes and other demographic indicators, then education attainment rates subside. This is particularly exacerbated in the Northern Territory by the tyranny of distance and very remote schools where we have historic and systemic lower attendance rates that I will talk about later. We have seen in the 2009 NAPLAN participation rates a 14.5% improvement above national average in three literacy areas that show we are heading in the right direction.
A total of 10 000 apprenticeships and traineeships commenced over a four-year period. Again, that is a very significant commitment to not only apprenticeships in school programs, but also the VET in Schools program that has been expanded and increased throughout our term of government. Schools really have embraced the VET agenda. We have seen the Australian government invest in trade training centres in our schools throughout the Northern Territory - every single one of those investments were opposed by those opposite - providing better facilities for our VET teachers to get better VET outcomes amongst our students.
We also saw last year the Northern Territory Certificate of Education become the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training, where VET qualifications are now assessed as part of a student attaining their Northern Territory Certificate of Education. Those VET courses and qualifications now count towards an NTCE, so kids can be kept at school longer, and kids who might not be the highest performing academic students are engaged. Those kids are engaged; they are keeping on at school until they turn 17, and they are leaving school with an NTCE and Year 12 qualification, as well as many kids have a Certificate I or a Certificate II qualification, sometimes even a Certificate III, in a VET area.
There were many other reforms over the period of this government. One that was really embraced by parents - and it is almost quite strange to think about a time when we did not have compulsory school uniforms. That now has been fully embraced across the Northern Territory. It is great to see the kids from Transition to Year 9 in school uniforms across the Northern Territory. As I said, it is hard to believe there was a time, not too long ago, when we did not have compulsory school uniforms. Other schools, even post-Year 9, require school uniforms. I pay particular credit to Taminmin College and Palmerston Senior College which made the decision that they were going to have compulsory school uniforms when they transitioned to a senior college from a high school this year. It is fantastic, and the kids I have spoken to at both of those schools certainly support that.
At the other end of the education system, we formed the Early Childhood Services Unit which is all about - and I know we led the way nationally, as a government, committing in our public schools system - a full year of schooling prior to Transition. That meant, in some instances, taking kids in as young as four, bringing them into the school environment and preparing them for that important Transition year through to Year 1. We are rolling that out across the Northern Territory in partnership with the Australian government. Mobile preschools and other initiatives such as Family as First Teachers Program in 18 remote communities and our Books in the Home program in 23 communities are all about having a conversation with families and young mums across the Territory about the importance of getting their children experienced in attending a structured environment leading into the Transition year of school. That is also about having parents embrace the school and being totally comfortable with school being a great place for their children.
These are very significant reforms and investments we have made to improve education outcomes. All of the research and the academic study in this area show that the more investment you put into early years, the greater outcomes we see later through a child’s education. It is better to put those investments in early, than try to recover those students and their learning pathways later in their education. We are proud of those reforms. Of course, as always, there is a long way to go.
One of the significant reforms that, as a parent, I have to say has been very worthwhile, has been the implementation of our middle schools program across the Northern Territory. Again, it was reform that was not without its controversial aspects, and was opposed by those members opposite. As the Chief Minister and former Education minister, and as a parent whose children have all either gone through or going through those middle years of schooling, I have been very impressed with the outcomes from that transition to middle years. As a parent, I have been very impressed with the support offered to children in those middle years of schooling where, tragically, we did see too many kids falling through the cracks and dropping out of senior school because they were very small fish in very big ponds. Those kids who wanted to fly and were committed to working were flying and doing well, but kids could become disengaged very quickly and fall through the cracks. The support that is provided around all those kids in those middle schools has meant there are fewer and fewer of those kids falling through the cracks.
That has also been supported through the investment in our Clontarf Football Academies and Sporting Chance Girls Academies, where those kids who were most at risk, being those Indigenous kids falling through those cracks in our urban centres as well as in the bush, are now fully engaged through those programs. Nine hundred young men and women students in middle schools and high schools are now enrolled and engaged at school, are going to school every day, and having the mentoring and support of staff of those academies. I am proud of our commitment and our investment because, of all the programs we see tuned towards attendance, this program seems to be the only one that is working well and consistently in getting kids to schools.
I like nothing better than visiting all of these academies and talking to these students, seeing how enthusiastic they are about their studies and the support they are getting. To everyone who is involved in the Clontarf Academies and the Sporting Chance Girls Academies, my heartfelt thanks and congratulations. You are changing the lives of these students. They will forever remember the time they spent with your guidance and care in getting them through school.
As I said earlier today, I am really looking forward to the end of this year when we have the opportunity to celebrate 120 kids from across the Northern Territory who have completed Year 12 as a result of Clontarf, who previously would have dropped out at 15. That is going to be a highlight at the end of the year I am really looking forward to.
We have also seen investment in parents in the $50 Back to School Bonus going to $75. This comes at the beginning of every school year in February. It is a time when everyone is pretty broke after the Christmas festivities and many families go away interstate. Everyone wants to do the best they can for their kids and families in presents at Christmas and the celebrations, so most people are pretty broke in February. That $75 for every child to assist with uniforms, school packs, is an investment in those kids and their education. We are very proud to be the government that introduced and extended that bonus that goes to all parents across the Northern Territory, no matter how remote the school is.
We have also introduced free bus services for Territory students, again trying to manage costs for parents in their education journeys. The electronic student profile, which is a system I was very keen on when I was Education minister, allows parents to have access to their child’s electronic profile and their attendance register, what is being set in assignments, when those assignments are due, and what homework has been set, and when it is due. Giving parents access to that information that can sometimes be pretty hard to extract from a teenage child, is all about empowering that conversation around the importance of education, and understanding what your children are doing at school. That system is being rolled out. There is still a way to go, but we are on the path.
I congratulate and talk about our government’s support for non-government schools in the Northern Territory because they are an important part of delivering education for our kids, both in our urban centres and our schools. As a government, we provide more assistance to the non-government schools in the Territory than any other government. That is largely because all of our non-government schools in the Territory - to use a turn of phrase - are not Ivy League schools. They are not bank rolled by institutional investment from well-off families and philanthropic donations we see for some of those Ivy League schools down south. Essentially, they are through the Catholic sector, the Christian school sector, the Lutheran school sector, other non-government service providers, or independent schools such as Essington. None of those schools is bank rolled by significant institutional funding to support them, so we do what we can with the funding that is available within our budget.
In rolling out the middle schools’ program, we provided much-needed capital investment for some of those schools, such as O’Loughlin College and the Lutheran school in Howard Springs. There are other schools that I cannot recall which received significant capital funding from the Territory government, and a number of other schools see significant ongoing capital funding and interest rate rebates.
We would always like to do more for all of our schools, but there is no ideological divide on this side of the House, as I know there is not on the other side of the House. I support parents’ right to choose and we, as a government, do what we can to support our non-government schools in the same way that we do everything we can to support our government schools. I do not believe it is a case of either/or; it is the case that if you support education then, obviously, the primary commitment is to the public system - that is what we are required to do. However, where we can, we provide significant support and have good relationships with the non-government sector.
During this term of government, we have doubled, over four years, the amount of money that any government in the Territory has put into infrastructure. That has been well received right across the Northern Territory - building new schools, upgrading schools, and every primary and group school in the Territory being allocated $300 000 for works of their choosing around the school. Many of our schools in the Territory are getting to the 30 years of age mark and need an upgrade, and they have certainly received that over the last four years with Territory government funding and the BER funding that has been so important.
The initial funding that was rolled out to improve those schools provided for schools to be repainted and playground equipment in schools. They were small grants that hit the ground early and, then, the bigger grants were provided for new classrooms, trade training centres, libraries, and sporting facilities. It has been an absolute thrill to travel around the Territory and see all of these schools, whether they are in a remote town or right here in Darwin at Larrakeyah Primary School where I was yesterday. All of these schools have received significant upgrades and, for the life of me, I cannot understand why the opposition and Tony Abbott opposed that program so vociferously and continues to do so until today, calling it a total waste of money and a rort.
I heard some Coalition spokesperson the other day saying it was money invested in infrastructure that would not have an economic return. What a doofus, Madam Speaker. I do not know who that member was, but what a doofus. Saying that investing in schools does not provide an economic return - what a doofus! To think that those people opposite associate with people like that who believe we should not invest in our schools; it is a rort, a waste of money, and does not provide an economic return. I cannot think of a better economic return for our nation than investing in education - and a world-class education system. You cannot have a world-class education system without world-class facilities for teachers and students.
I am committed to our Every Child, Every Day strategy. It is probably one of the most important initiatives my government has introduced; I am in regular conversation with both the minister and the Chief Executive of that department as to the implementation of that strategy, and to ensure those sanctions ...
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the Chief Minister be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, parliamentary colleagues. I will be fairly brief.
In regard to our education system in the Northern Territory and Every Child, Every Day, I have regular conversations with the minister and the Chief Executive about the sanctions being applied to parents whose kids do not attend on a regular basis. I am pleased to hear a significant number of compulsory conferences have now been held across the Territory and, as a result, many of the kids who were not going to school are now attending school. Unfortunately, we have seen a number of fines issued as well.
I can also say, working with minister Macklin on failure to attend school and neglect of children, we have a significant number of families across the Territory who now have 70% of their income quarantined as a result of kids not attending school on a regular basis.
Those are the sticks that, unfortunately, have to be used. All of us understand carrots are much better to engage students than sticks. If kids want to go to school, they are going to do somewhat better than kids who are forced to go to school every day and do not want to be there. However, we have to have the carrots and the sticks, and toughen up on families who do not send their kids to school regularly, and those are being applied. It is important to apply those standards and requirements to ensure kids go to school.
I am proud of our teachers and principals in the Territory. I have said before that one of the highlights of my year as the previous Education minister, and Chief Minister, was the annual Board of Studies presentation night at Parliament House - I know colleagues attend the one in Alice Springs - where the top 20 Year 12 best and brightest Territory students are awarded; the highest achieving students awards in various categories. It is one of the best functions in the year to attend and see these kids who have achieved marks right up amongst the best in the nation.
On a couple of occasions, we have had students with a TER of 100. On every occasion, students with more than a 98 or 99 TER have done their entire education in the Territory, both in the government and non-government sector, and can virtually walk into any university in Australia, or the world, with a TER which has been achieved at the highest levels in the Territory. That is all down to our principals, our teachers, leadership in the schools, parents. It goes to show we have a world-class education system in the Territory if people work hard and avail themselves of it. I look forward to attending many more Board of Studies presentation awards.
In conclusion, I promise Territorians that if your child goes to school every day and, as a parent, you are engaged with your children’s education, then your kid will achieve to the same extent as kids around Australia. It is all about getting your kid to school every day and, as a parent, supporting the children through their educational journey, being engaged in that educational journey, and being engaged with the schools your children are attending.
We all have our dramas and crises as parents around education. Every now and then you find a teacher who is probably not the best in the world who has your kids; that is life. You cannot have perfection every step of the way. By and large, if kids do go to school, if parents are engaged and committed to their education, kids will achieve here, they do achieve here, and the best of our kids are amongst the best in the world.
Madam Speaker, I commend the statement to the House.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, in responding to this statement, I do so acknowledging hard-working teachers across the Northern Territory, whether they are in the government sector, the non-government sector, working in urban schools, or in remote schools. I also acknowledge the contribution made by parents, particularly those who serve on school councils to support what occurs at the local school level. I acknowledge, in particular, Indigenous families who are actively engaged and involved in interaction with the Education department to ensure, as far as possible, their needs are being heard, understood, and responded to.
A statement about education can be delivered, which talks about all the good things that are occurring - and there is plenty of good that is occurring. However, there are aspects of the education debate that need to be considered if we want to improve the quality of the education system, and the delivery of education to our young people. We need to get down to the point of it and be very honest. Yes, there are kids who are doing very well in the Northern Territory. They would do well in any system, anywhere, no matter what approach was taken and what reforms had been put in place. No matter what kind of programs you run, there will always be kids who will rise to the top. That really is not the issue. The issue is there are kids who are in the middle and the tail of our academic performance levels we really need to respond to. We have to respond to those who are not achieving at the levels they could achieve.
In starting a response, we need to acknowledge the reforms of the past were largely about changing the structure of education. It was about buildings, in having a different model and creating a middle school. That was about buildings. Called an education reform, it was about a change to the way in which education was configured. It was about timetables and buses - how you would alter the bus routes to get the kids to the schools. All of that was wrapped up and called an ‘education reform’.
The fact is, in this Chamber, the then minister for Education, Mr Stirling, when we were embarking on the reform into secondary education which gave rise to the creation of middle schools, said this will fail if we do not see - I will paraphrase, but the words are there - an improvement in education outcomes, the results of all our efforts. He basically assured us we would see improved academic results flowing from the restructure of secondary education. We waited, and we still have not seen the dramatic improvement that was promised by this reform.
My comments are all the way through this. Though the Chief Minister now has feigned concern the opposition opposed such things - we did not. If he had the ears to hear, he would have known we were not opposing. There were aspects of the implementation of these reforms that were problematic, because they were largely focused on physical things and not on education itself.
A true reform in education is a reform around the curriculum; that is, what is taught, and those who teach; that is, the teacher. It is the curriculum and the teachers. If you want to have a reform in education, you work in that space. To dress it up with a restructure of the buildings, the timetables, buses, and things like that, and badge that as a reform – it is not actually a real reform of education. That is a reform of education programs and how you deliver education, but not education itself. You could go into a place and ask a question: ‘How could we deliver education in a manner that produces better results and better equips our young people to participate in the opportunities in the Northern Territory?’
Not foreshadowing a debate, but there will be discussion in this Chamber a little later about the high levels of youth suicides in the Northern Territory. I see a connection between the capacity to deliver a quality education to those who are aspiring to be a part of the great story of the Northern Territory, and those who feel they do not get that and fall out of the system. You cannot just say fall through the cracks when you look at the numbers in the Territory.
It is those we need to focus on – the teachers first. Part of last year and the year before, I had a wonderful period of time when I visited more than 20 schools, and I walked away impressed with what I saw in those schools. The teachers were all very conversant with the decisions they had made about the teaching programs in their schools. There was a level professionalism that was, frankly, impressive. There was energy in all those schools. I did not miss any schools, I was not selective. There are still some schools, particularly non-government schools I have not visited. I would like to continue to do so, but there are many things we would like to do. Visiting over 20 schools, particularly in Darwin and the northern suburbs, I came away impressed with quality of our teaching profession.
What I did observe, though, was that in the number of programs that are being run in those schools - around literacy and numeracy in particular which caught my attention - there seems to be a great diversity - perhaps a bewildering diversity - of literacy and numeracy programs, particularly literacy. There seemed to be any number of different approaches being taken in different schools. I accept local schools can make their own decisions, but it appears to me to be waste of effort and energy to invest in the training of teachers to implement a particular program chosen by that particular school, when, if they go to another school, they then have to reinvest and re-jig. There is a great deal of effort that is put into that.
The Ladwig and Sarra report into the Education department and the system of education in the Northern Territory spoke of the levels of confusion and disfunctionality in the support around those teachers. I say it is necessary that there needs to be that level of leadership shown by the department to provide that coherent support around the types of programs that are run in the schools, because there is no deficiency in the capacity, motivation and professionalism of our teachers. There is much effort being put in that should not be put into the adapting to new programs that each school seems to have. There were any number of programs - and I will not list them - from First Steps and all the way through.
There seemed to be an enthusiastic person at school X who liked Letter Land and got everyone doing Letter Land. Then, the person goes to another school and it might be First Steps, where they think this is a First Steps school, that is the one. Then, there was Accelerated Literacy at another one. There are teachers who move and they think: ‘I have to start all over again’. Sometimes, they can switch off.
On that front, I believe we need to have a rethink about the curriculum. Take a leaf out of Singapore’s book. Singapore took an objective assessment of its own academic performance. I have been doing more work on this and there will be people listening and thinking: ‘All right, let us have a look at this’. I believe you should; there is an example that needs to be investigated. In Singapore, they noted when they had the international assessment of literacy and numeracy and science, that Singapore was slipping, particularly in maths. They thought: ‘What should we do?’ The Labor government would say: ‘We will just spend more money and give statements in parliament and reassure everyone that they are doing a very good job, just like Mr Grace in Are You Being Served – you are all doing very well’.
The Singapore government - I need to investigate this further; all I have read gives me cause for a need to investigate this further - noted there was slippage. The results were not improving. What did they do? They did a complete overhaul of the curriculum in maths ...
A member: Not a committee?
Mr MILLS: No, they actually re-jigged it, and have now put together a curriculum that has been in place for about five years. Because they took an objective assessment, they did not see this - from what I could see – as an issue about the government or the minister; it was an issue about the government doing its job, which is making sure there is an appropriate curriculum in place that delivers the results and then resource the teachers.
What they found was there were significant improvements. Now, Singapore has made real and measureable gains that have attracted the attention of people who are interested in curriculum design. There are other countries now saying: ‘Let us have a look at this curriculum’. It is achieving the results.
I will hazard this - and I do not think it is of great risk - that the kids in the Singapore system - using this as a case study - are not smarter now than they were five years ago. I hazard they are the same; basically, the same kids. I also hazard the teachers five years ago were working just as hard as they are now. I also hazard the Singapore government, though investing in curriculum redesign may have spent some money, but I do not think they would have spent prodigious amounts of money to try to create some kind of difference without actually changing the system. They, obviously, would have spent some money. What they got by a change to the curriculum was no change to the kids themselves or the capacity and the professionalism of teachers, but significantly improved results. This is something that should be looked at.
It supports the argument I have run in this place and in the community for a number of years: reforms in education are about the curriculum and the capacity and professionalism of, and support for, teachers - not about buildings, timetables, buses, brochures, and just spending money. The Chief Minister’s pet - they must have their own little strategy meetings up there and say this. The member for Daly obviously attends them. He is being a bit too enthusiastic, losing a bit of credibility like a bad actor, saying we are against everything …
A member: A bad actor, the current member for Daly.
Mr MILLS: That is right. … that we came out and we opposed all that spending in the schools. Just calm down, just calm down. What we were asking was recognising you are actually spending real money and you are spending it on something that is to produce a very specific result. The result, yes, in a school, is to produce what? Better education results! It is to support the enterprise of education.
We get this confusing, feel-good thinking from our colleagues opposite who believe no one is really responsible - education is more about entertainment than actual education and learning; you have to make the kids really like school. It is more about carrots than sticks is what they say. What they are actually saying is: ‘You just have to reward kids - if you just spend enough money. Perhaps a skate park at the school will make all the kids like school, and they will all go to school and be very happy in the morning because they cannot wait to go because the school has a skate park!’
I have asked my kids certain questions – what would you prefer, this or that? I know what answer I will get depending on the question I am going to ask. ‘Would you like to go to Kentucky Fried Chicken or would you like dad to cook tea?’ ‘We will go to KFC thanks, dad’. You know what type of question you are going to ask kids.
You have to sometimes, as adults, as grown-ups, because we have been around the track, make a decision about what is best for those kids, about the money entrusted to you to be invested in something that is going to produce - not a political result so you can trump it forever and a day that you have done something fantastic and those blokes on the other side are real bad people. That is dumb! You had money. We had the necessary position of asking the question about this: are you getting a result for that investment?
I am sure that discussion goes on in your own household. If you have money and you are going to invest it, someone in your household is going to say: ‘Hang on. Is that a good investment or not? How dare you oppose my decision to spend money!’ You do not have that discussion in your own household. This is parliament; this is a representation of the community. We ask questions. However, asking a question is real bad because we are against it. The poor member for Daly needs to go to Corrugated Iron Theatre to improve his acting performance because it is - perhaps I should not make that suggestion; continue on, it is quite entertaining.
Another aspect of education I believe needs to be carefully considered - and I am pleased the Chief Minister has acknowledged it – is the government and the non-government sectors. For too long, I heard this Labor government talking about education. The minister was more the minister for the Department of Education and less the minister for Education. By recognising that which occurs in the whole enterprise in non-government and government, urban and remote, you have to recognise the important link between the home and the school is an essential part of education.
The minister would be aware, no doubt, with whoever has his ear and is running these defences against certain allegations that have been made regarding the quite sincere aspirations of Indigenous communities exploring options of being more directly involved in the decisions about the education of their children. Hear what I am saying. In the case of Baniyala, which the minister cited on a number of occasions, yes, I acknowledge, as would the community, you have provided them with some quality infrastructure ...
Dr Burns: And staff.
Mr MILLS: I am going there. The staff are very impressive. It is a wonderful community. Without discrediting or devaluing the investment in the infrastructure - that is fine, that is great - the teachers there are of quality. That is a wonderful and very valuable investment in that community. Unfortunately, I have forgotten their names, but one used to be the principal at Moulden Park School ...
Dr Burns: Pat Ellis.
Mr MILLS: Pat and his wife; a wonderful couple. All those things aside - but acknowledged; no devaluing of those at all - the essential element I am referring to is that community asked for more direct involvement in the decisions around the education delivery in their school. They said they wanted to have greater control. All these good things were given, and I understand they said: ‘Yes, but we still want to run our own school’. That request is a very important one that cannot be overlooked by the giving of other things which are related to, but not essential or not central to the question: ‘Can we be more actively involved?’ You may muster all your arguments around the assertion and observation I have just made ...
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker. I move an extension of time for the member for Blain to complete his remarks pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I broaden that situation, about which I am sure there is going to be a response. You are required, nonetheless, to respond to the very same question that is being formed in the minds of families in remote communities - from up in the islands all the way across and down the Centre and across to the east and the west. It is already a question that has been formed in communities in Western Australia. It is something that will not go away.
Families, particularly those remote from the centre of education - which really appears many times to be in the Mitchell Centre – are the centre of education. It is in the family home supported by the school. There are families, particularly Indigenous families, calling out for a greater engagement. That is a space we need to walk into and, I tell you, it is a space I am prepared to go, because that is my background in education. You have to genuinely walk with that family because the family, the parent, has the responsibility to raise and educate that child with the support of the Education department. The Education department is not the one that is responsible; they are responsible for supporting that family.
The issue is the further you go from the centre. You see it at the chalk face too, or the SMART board face, where the teacher who is in front of those kids is the one who should be receiving very genuine, thoughtful, ever-present support - right there!. They are not servants of the department; the department should be servicing those who are actually working for the family.
There is something happening out there under the radar, minister - I hope you are aware of it - which is going to require a response. I have been watching that space for some time. I am prepared to go there because I understand the centre of education is with the family, and to strengthen that capacity will give us the gains. I have already mentioned it is around curriculum and the shape of that curriculum. That needs to be revisited. There are plenty of examples of that, and we cannot resist that any further, and we cannot tinker around the edges.
Finally, in education delivery, there is concern about the behaviour of students. There needs to be an effective and meaningful response to poor behaviour in classrooms that cannot be ambiguous, as it is. You can run back and say: ‘Oh, yes, but under 27 years of the Country Liberal Party, the minister did not fine any parent for not sending their kids to school. So, there you go, we do not have to answer that’. That does not wash. If it was not right then, it is not right now. There are good families, particularly in some of these more challenged communities, who, at great sacrifice, are sending their kids to school. There are those who could not care a hoot about that and do not accept the essential responsibility they have. They are waiting for leadership shown from government, from the minister, to impose a meaningful consequence on those who do not accept that responsibility.
What does it do? ‘Oh, those poor people, they probably have an excuse’. They probably have, but what about the good ones who send their kids to school? They need to be encouraged by an action such as that; it sends a very good and positive message. That is the best way to change behaviour. You know that makes sense: you have to reward those who are doing the right thing and not provide a reward for those who could not care a hoot about proper standards, particularly around the fundamental of sending your kid to school. If you are serious about it, you have to move into that space.
Regarding student behaviour, how appalling it is to send a message that if a kid mucks up, treats teachers and all their colleagues with disrespect - after all the assets that have been sent to try to correct behaviour - if we just spend more money, then perhaps they will come to their senses? For goodness sake! At the school level, it gets to the point where you are going to have to suspend a kid to send some kind of message. What happens when a kid is suspended? In the frustration of having to deal with that, you suspend a child from the school, and you consign all those kids who have been suspended to wander around the community; wander around Palmerston shops or go to Casuarina at any time. I stop and ask those kids what they are you doing there. ‘Oh, I have been suspended’. It is like a reward.
If I was trying to send a clear message to my kids because they did something such as being very rude to my wife, their mother – if I said: ‘If you do that again then I am going to - what? - make sure you sit in front of the television and watch anything you like until you come to your senses’. It does not work! We need to suspend kids whose behaviour is inappropriate and eroding the central enterprise of education - suspend them from there to a place where the issue will be properly dealt with.
We have to take this much more seriously than we have. It has been a pretty slack and lazy approach for a long time where you send these messages that are meaningless, no behaviour is challenged, no good standards are reinforced, and you are constantly appealing to the goodwill of parents - those who want to do the right thing. They do not seem to be rewarded; they do not get backed up. But the other ones who are falling through the cracks, we seem to rush there and spend ever-increasing amounts of money on those who treat the whole system with contempt, could not care a hoot about it. There are no consequences because we have to have more carrots than sticks, which is code – from the Labor side – to say: ‘No stick, because no one is responsible; just carrots, and then their behaviour will change. Give kids lollies and then they will get better’. Rubbish! ‘You know it is good for you’. ‘But I do not want it!’ ‘You know it is good for you’. You might hurt their self-esteem. Well, what about all the others who are in need of some clear guidance? They become discouraged and confused, and there are no standards.
I tell you and you know this – and there are kids who will tell you this, and you would have observed it, if you just think about it - the teacher who runs a really tight ship, who has clear standards, where the kids do not mess around; deep down - the kids will want to be in that class. They do not want to be in the laissez faire class where everyone is running amok and talking over the top of each other and it is chaos; everyone is called by their first name, and call the teacher by their first name; everyone is having a great old time, and sing songs at the drop of a hat. They do not know their tables. But, why do they really need those tables, when they have whatever? It is quite entertaining and it is really nice and good fun, it is colourful, a lot of art, and all this sort of stuff.
Then, next door, you have this class where the teacher has the kids sitting up straight, the kids are very concerned about being late for class, they do their homework, they keep tidy, they do not interrupt in class, they behave very well; it is pretty tough in there. Halfway through that year, I bet if you ask the kids which class they would prefer to be in, I guarantee you they would want to be in the one where there is structure and reward for effort. They want that; kids are crying out for it. For too long you have spent money in other places to try to entertain them and said: ‘If we only had more entertaining and interesting programs at the school then all the kids would like education and the results would improve’.
That is nonsense! It is an experiment that has failed. It is not for the fainthearted to go in this space. You have had 10 years of it. We are going to have to turn this around for the sake of trying to have some genuine investment which produces real results and challenges behaviour; rewards those who do the right thing and gets people to move others to move from where they are to where they should be.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I conclude as I started. I acknowledge our kids are fine kids and, no matter what system they are in, many of our kids will achieve. However, they are not the ones of concern; it is the ones in the middle and those who are finding it difficult to achieve, and the debate we have later reflects on those.
Our teachers are professional and hard-working, but I believe it is the role of government to provide proper support and a proper assessment of curriculum and policy to ensure implementation which produces real results in education; that is, a real reform in education. What we have had so far is not, essentially, an education reform, it has just been a changing of the way in which education is delivered. There has been no essential change to education itself, which is curriculum, and teachers, those who teach that curriculum.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I took a great interest in what the member for Blain spoke about. In fact, I believe you can see some of what he said in some of the independent schools. I am not saying they are any better than the government schools. I have a new school in my electorate, the Good Shepherd Lutheran College, and it is now attracting about 45% of students from the rural area. Why are people going there who are not Lutheran? This is the case with Catholic schools and Kormilda because there is a different approach. At the Good Shepherd Lutheran School, there is a desire by the school for higher education; that is, education is seen as extremely important along with some belief structure, which is important. Also, there is a feeling that there is an element of discipline amongst both teachers and students in that school, and they are all going towards a particular goal.
I have been to an assembly there recently - I go to assemblies as often as I can - and I am not trying to diminish any other schools, but I felt that school had something that most other schools did not have. That school had a real drive to want the students to achieve. They wanted every person in that school to achieve. I got a feeling the students also wanted to belong to that school for that very reason. There are ways of doing things, and perhaps there is more flexibility in the independent sector than there is in the government sector. Perhaps it is time the government sector looked at some of what happens in the independent sector and took that as a role model.
I have a few issues I would like to raise. I have no argument with the government when it said that education is the key; the vehicle that can deliver social, cultural, and economic development. It is essential to safer, longer, and better life and a stable, strong, and growing society in our economy. I do not think anyone would disagree with that, but there are a number of issues that need to be raised, and have been raised in this parliament a number of times.
The government has talked about improving the numbers of children attending schools. I believe there should be a stricter approach to making sure children are required to attend school by fining parents, and by having one-on-one meetings with parents. The Chief Minister has said now that 70% of social security benefits are quarantined for those parents who do not send their kids to school is a good thing. On the other side of that equation is you can send kids to school, but will they learn when they are there? Will they be attentive, or will they just be a nuisance? If kids have not been to school for a long time - as I learnt on one of my trips to Galiwinku, where you have a large cohort of children who should be at school; it is roughly half to a third who attend regularly. Then, there is a group who attend some of the time, and a group who hardly attend at all.
What happens with that sort of attendance is the kids who turn up for school regularly have problems learning because there are children who come into those classes who are behind, or simply not used to the classroom atmosphere and not willing to sit still or become part of the team. You can get kids to school; the real question we have to ask is: has there been an increase or improvement in literacy, numeracy, reading and writing for those children who are now attending schools? Attendance is not education. It is the learning and the knowledge that will change the chance of Aboriginal people - because that is mainly where these issues are in the Northern Territory - getting a better job in society.
I have a number of issues I would like to raise. One is special education. The minister would know that my office has been talking to the minister’s office about the construction of Nemarluk School. We have raised concerns about the design of that school and whether it meets best practice. I know that school is still going ahead, and one is not asking for the government to close that school down. The reality is the government is also looking at building a new special needs education facility at Palmerston. I ask the question while I am here whether that Palmerston education special needs facility is on target? I have heard there might be a need for more money for Nemarluk School which means the Palmerston special needs school may be set back to another budget.
The concern we have is if there have been some best practice issues for budget reasons, or whatever reason, included in the design of Nemarluk I am asking the department to look at ensuring those failings in the design are not included in the Palmerston special needs education facility.
The other issue is in relation to special needs funding at some of our schools. I had a meeting last year in relation to some of the special needs funding. After meeting with some of the parents and people from the school council, it was a concern there was a move by the department to come down on some of the school staff, which I thought totally unfair. The school, which I will not name, had concerns that in 2010 they had 135 students requiring support and were funded for around $300 000. This year, they have the same number of students but are only funded to around $95 000. DET will say it has implemented a better system which addresses the needs of the students. I am hearing from parents that this is not the case. Parents from a range of rural schools met in my office - parents with special needs kids, and parents of kids without special needs, and they discussed the cut in funding.
Another concern is that now we have principals on contract it is much harder for them to criticise the department because some of them fear that could cost them their job. I have always hoped I could freely speak to principals and gain information about schools and policies because, if I am not able to do that as a local member, I certainly will not be able to get the real information from the department.
I need to know what is going on in a particular school on the ground and what the issues are. It is concerning because, at one stage when I raised issues, the previous Principal of Taminmin College was phoned by the department wanting to know what was going on. I have always believed the local member should be able to talk freely with the principal because I regard them similar to a CEO. You should be able to contact those people and get answers about issues, and principals should be entitled to let you know if there are problems. We can use school councils of course; however, school principals should be entitled to use local members where there are issues they feel need to be raised.
The issues around Taminmin College are important. The member for Goyder has put on the Notice Paper discussion about lack of services in the rural area. This is a problem for the rural area and is highlighted by the fact Taminmin does not appear to get the same funding as other schools in the Darwin region. Taminmin is nearly 30 years old. In 2008, middle schooling was introduced and Taminmin was allocated $4.6m in 2007-08 capital works for new classroom facilities to support the implementation of middle years schooling. Taminmin has doubled in size since middle school and the 17-year-old leaving age was introduced; it went from 600 to nearly 1200 students. My understanding is Taminmin College is the biggest high school in the Northern Territory.
You need to put this into perspective. Taminmin received $4.6m and doubled in size. In comparison, a new purpose-built campus for Darwin Middle School was built at a cost of $25m. Enrolment in 2009 was 609 students, nearly half the number of students at Taminmin. The new Rosebery Middle and Primary School was built at a cost of $59m and has 1450 students - that is two schools. The Nhulunbuy High School has an enrolment of 284 and received $3.18m for middle year education and $2.6m for senior secondary education. Tennant Creek High School, in 2009 had an enrolment of 240 students and received $6.6m. Here you have the biggest high school in the Northern Territory receiving a paltry $4.6m. If anyone has been to that school, they will realise it has been developed so quickly and, to some extent, so haphazardly it is a school that is going to run into trouble if something is not done and there is not adequate spending to bring that school up to the standard of other schools in the Northern Territory.
That is why I am interested in what the member for Goyder is going to say about the lack of services. No one is unhappy about getting $4.6m, but if you were to compare it with what has been given to other schools, then the government really needs to look at its financial costings for this rural school and reconsider where it is going.
I also should mention there were 26 minor new work applications submitted over the past 12 years, and Taminmin received approval for nine. There are now major infrastructure problems, including the science laboratories not meeting OHS standards.
Taminmin College is a great college; there is no doubt about it. If you go there now, I must admit the front entrance looks No 1. It is what is behind the entrance that is of concern. When you have that large number of kids, then you have to ensure they have adequate and well-funded facilities. I believe the government really has to reinvest in that great college because not only is it a standard middle and secondary high school, it is a VET college with mechanics, agriculture and, I think, the certificate in stable work.
It has a range of other courses many other schools do not have. It has its great Japanese exchange student program - they were here yesterday - something that has been going on for a number of years. It serves the entire rural area; there is no other high school in the rural area. I hope the government is seriously considering the building of another high school, perhaps in Weddell - without having to wait for Weddell’s designs to be finished - because there is a need. As places such as Dundee, Adelaide River, and the southern part of the Litchfield Shire continue to grow, there is going to be a need for a new high school. Taminmin is full and, as far as I know, many students now have to go to Palmerston. If all the students who went to other schools in the rural area were told they had to go to Taminmin, we would have people sitting on the street because other schools like O’Loughlin, Kormilda, St John’s, Palmerston, the Good Shepherd Lutheran, and Marrara Christian College take a substantial number of students from the rural area as well. If they were not able to go there, Taminmin would be overflowing with young people. The government has to reinvest in Taminmin and seriously look at planning now, as soon as possible, for a new high school.
In relation to some of the Indigenous issues in education, there was an interesting article by David Cornish recently. He reported a federal Senate inquiry into Indigenous ear health problems that young Indigenous people have to cope with. These issues have been around for some time. Anyone who has taught in a school where Indigenous children have come into their classroom, especially out bush, have wondered from time to time why their student is not listening, and thinking they are just being naughty and misbehaving. In many cases, it is because some of these young people have an ear problem and simply cannot hear. A teacher in a bush school found that 90% of her Indigenous students had no ear drums. The percentage of adult Aboriginals in the Darwin Correctional Centre with a hearing impairment is around 90%. Viral infection in infancy causes the condition known as glue ear, and it attacks Indigenous infants within weeks of birth. It affects development of speech and, if untreated, can lead to permanent hearing loss.
A former Principal of Lajamanu School found that because 95 of the students had glue ear, it was virtually impossible for them to learn in a foreign language. An audiologist said if you cannot hear, you may do two things: you may daydream in the corner because your thoughts are going to be more interesting than whatever the teacher is rabbiting on about, or you are going to act up and poke and prod your friends so they cannot learn either. Children can get hearing aids for free from government, but installing a sound field amplification system in classrooms with a larger number of Indigenous students is cheaper and less stigmatising than providing hearing aids for students.
During the Senate inquiry, it was identified that training teachers in effective teaching strategies for hearing-impaired students is crucial. Evidence showed just half-an-hour is spent on hearing loss in the two-week induction program for new teachers in the Territory. An Indigenous health worker said knowing about his hearing loss helped him realise he was not as dumb as he thought.
There is a good news story at Jabiru. Brustolin Builders - I know the manager, Mark Brustolin, quite well - is constructing a 25-bed boarding school in Jabiru for the traditional owners because they recognise the importance to get students a good education and, sometimes, that means removing them from the community. Mr Brustolin is personally undertaking to train a young Aboriginal man on the construction site. He has had to push through some issues, but Royce - that is the name of the young fellow - is now working five days a week, boarding on-site with construction workers, and completing two to three hours per day learning in a specially built classroom in the construction workers village. That is a really good new story. There were four Aboriginal young men who started. They all gave up for a while, and I think Mark got with some of the traditional owners and spoke to this young fellow, and he came back on the job and stayed on the job. He is a good role model.
It is hard, sometimes, in these communities to stick with it - the tall poppy syndrome, the shame job sometimes comes into it, and there are other attractions. However, this young fellow has stayed with it. I congratulate Mark Brustolin for making that effort, just for that one Aboriginal person to become a trained construction person at Jabiru. It is great.
We hear much about education in the Northern Territory and there has been much talk about getting kids away from their communities and getting them into boarding school. This is an example of traditional owners doing exactly that. Noel Pearson has said if we do not get kids away from their environment we do not have a fair chance of getting them educated. This is, in some ways, a small start to something which should be a bigger goal for the department of Education and other private or independent schools as well.
There are a couple of good stories. There is much talk about the BER today, but the BER criticism should have been aimed down south, certainly in places like New South Wales where it was not good, as there was a lot of wastage. I have spoken to many of the schools here. I cannot say they are absolutely happy as they would have liked to have had a bit more say. There was one group of funding where they did have a say, and I have forgotten the name of that program. However, it was the second group of funding where the department had much more say. I have not run into anyone who has said this is terrible.
I went to Humpty Doo Primary School recently. They have the biggest covering over their basketball courts, and they are rapt. They have also improved the assembly area. St Francis of Assisi just got new classrooms. That school is expanding as it never was before. Girraween Primary School has doubled the size of its preschool. They were full. In the case of the Litchfield Christian School, they have a brand new library ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move the member be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good Shepherd Lutheran School has brand new language classrooms. Howard Springs Primary School has new classrooms. Their classrooms had white ants in them and were nearly an OHS issue and now they have a classroom to replace that. There had not been any new classrooms at Howard Springs Primary School for about 20 years, so they welcomed that. Bees Creek Primary School got special education classrooms and a library extension.
The only other school I should mention was Taminmin, which got a car park. That was not as good as the others, but I am trying to look at this from a practical perspective. All those schools I have been to have been very grateful for those improvements.
I know this is politics but, for me, when I have read a great deal about this, it seems in some states there was far more wastage than in other states. I am not sure the Territory can be put in that basket. I am not saying everything was perfect, but those schools have had benefits. I have been out, believe it or not - I do not want to say this again - to many communities. I saw the new hall at Alpurrurulam from a BER project. There are many smaller schools that probably would not have received some of this infrastructure if it was not for BER. It is important that we keep some perspective on this because, in many cases, schools would never have received that boost to their infrastructure if this program had not happened.
You have to remember there were benefits to local businesses. The people I saw putting up the BER project were all local contractors. They are still building some of them, such as the Humpty Doo basketball court cover. They believe it was a good project.
An issue that concerned me, which was raised on my trip, is about sporting carnivals. I do not think it is so much an issue in the Top End, but it is an issue in Central Australia. It is something that the department of Education, the communities, the councils, and others have to sit down together and get serious about. I ran into this issue when I went to a cattle station. The owner of the cattle station at Mt Riddick said to me: ‘We thought we had an agreement there would only be a certain number of carnivals, and they would only be on Saturday and Sunday’. I do not know who made that agreement, but the agreement does not seem to hold much water. What is happening, from the cattleman’s point of view is, if he is going to have a muster, he books the helicopter on Monday. He gets a phone call saying: ‘Sorry boss, we are coming back from the footy carnival, and we will not be there until Tuesday’. Meanwhile, the helicopter sits on the ground at I do not know how many thousands of dollars an hour - not too impressed.
If that is happening with those people, imagine what is happening with schools. Schools are empty, and that is not good. The Alpurrurulam School has an agreement with the department of Education that when they go to the Mount Isa Rodeo, they can use the two weeks they take off to go there as their holidays. They shift the term around and, when normal holidays come, that is when they are at school. Perhaps we have to start looking at ways we either come up with an agreement there is going to be limited numbers of sporting carnivals, which are only going to be on Saturday and Sunday, and children have to be back at school. Or, you change the year around so those days that are missed are picked up when the holidays are on. It is important because days missed at school are never recovered. That is something that has to be dealt with.
An area that concerns me - and I am interested in the minister’s response – is the Exodus Foundation. I gather the government has not given them any more funding. They have seen me over the years. I have a bit of a conflict of interest as my granddaughter, who got behind in her English, has been doing that Exodus Foundation course at Sacred Heart, Palmerston. I sometimes wonder if the simplest programs are the best programs because the Exodus Program, when I have seen it, appears to be ‘sit down, read this book, and do it constantly for three hours a day for so many weeks a year’. I have always said that with all the IT and the nice words, sitting down reading a book and learning how to read is the best way to educate young people. From the figures I have seen - because this Exodus Foundation has been working in Malak and I think at Holy Spirit and Sacred Heart - my understanding is their figures for bringing children who have got behind up to scratch, has warranted the work they have been doing. I am interested to hear the minister’s response.
The Chief Minister mentioned independent schools. Independent schools play a great part in our education; it gives us choice and variety. In this day and age, when I know we are going to discuss some more serious issues later in the day, it teaches values. We have values taught in high schools and primary schools, and there is no doubt we teach those values. However, in some of the more religious schools, they bring that to a level which is different. There is, obviously, a belief in God, and there is a different approach to education - not just about whether you can read or write, but what the future is and why you are on this earth - more deep and meaningful matters. To some extent, that more rigorous approach to some of the ways children are taught, and some of the ways subjects are presented, is an attraction to many people in this day and age when there are so many distractions.
The Good Shepherd Lutheran School at Howard Springs is booming. It is not far off becoming a fully-fledged senior college as well. It is a middle school at the moment with some senior children. It is soon to become a fully-fledged senior college and is growing rapidly. There are issues about land, and I hope the government ensures it does not squeeze it in too much. I would rather have sufficient land around that school for it to expand so we do not have a problem similar to the new MacKillop College in Palmerston which, unfortunately, originally had 9 ha of land when it first applied about 10 or 11 years ago, and up popped a sacred site and took out 3 ha. It is now squashed in between a heritage site and a sacred site.
I am, to some extent, a biased AFL man, but I also love my Rugby League and Rugby Union. They do not have enough room for a fully-fledged football oval. You can play Rugby League and Rugby Union on a fully-fledged football oval, but it is very hard to play AFL on a Rugby ground. When you consider many of our young people who come to these schools are Aboriginal, it is disappointing there was not more work done on selecting a new site.
Perhaps it could have gone over to Howard Springs on a site over the road from Lambrick Avenue on Howard Springs Road. There was sufficient room to build a school there with adequate space. I am not saying it will not be a good school; however, you need the equipment, the playground area, and the space if you are going to build a high school so people have opportunities. It is on its way now so we cannot do much about it unless we have a two-storey football ground. We will see what happens when it is completed. It is something that has been a long time coming. When I first came to parliament, that school was on the list of new schools for Palmerston. It did not happen; it has just happened now, so it is welcomed.
I thank the government for two new buses in the rural area. An area has been developing quite fast that has no buses for schools - the Girraween subdivision on Hicks Road. It has developed so quickly it was left off the bus routes. I thank the government for extending a couple of existing bus routes so children living in that area can get to both Girraween Primary School and Howard Springs Lutheran College. It is a long trip for them but, if they take a good book and their homework, they could probably do that on the way to school and on the way home. I thank the government for that.
In relation to uniforms, I believe Taminmin was one of the first schools to ensure all children at that school had uniforms. I believe it was a mistake of the government not to enforce both middle schools and senior schools to have a uniform. It gives kids a sense of belonging; it takes away many of those issues about fashion. It also keeps the costs down for parents who have to try to match the fashion parade that can occur.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement. When we start to talk about education, there are many issues that could be raised in parliament. I raised the issues today because they are important. I reiterate that special needs must be looked at properly in relation to the proper standards of buildings, and that Taminmin College really needs its fair share of funding. It is the biggest high school and it needs its fair share of money to ensure it stays the best school in the Northern Territory.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I endorse, first, a couple of comments the member for Nelson made in relation to the Lutheran school at Howard Springs and their future expansion. I recall some years ago when the middle schools debate was occurring, I went to all the public meetings. I had a particular interest in middle schools at that time. Some of the argument people put up, both for and against, was quite interesting. The people - the teachers, the public, the educators and the learned people from institutions - who were against the formation of separate middle schools and institutions in separate locations and totally divorced from senior colleges, raised some very interesting points. I will not go through what they all were. There is a debate in the community about how successful middle schooling has been.
I recall very clearly the evidence given to these meetings by people who were quite passionate about their views on middle schools - in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand and, in fact, even in Victoria where they were only part way through implementing middle schools similar to the arrangement we were going to have in the Northern Territory. There were concerns they were going backwards instead of forwards.
Since that time, there is further information, and still debate raging in the community, about whether middle schools which are separate from senior schools, and even separate from primary schools, work. I have heard throughout this debate a number of issues discussed in relation to schools such as O’Loughlin College, Marrara Christian College, and Kormilda. Then, you go into the government schools and some of the middle schools that are part of the government system. It has been raised before - and I am going to just speak briefly on this - there are advantages when you are trying to get kids to go to school and to stay at school, in ensuring you have a composite school that runs from almost Transition all the way through.
The member for Nelson has raised the issue of the Lutheran school at Howard Springs and its ability to expand. I believe his concerns are well-founded because, in the not-too-distant future, I believe they will introduce senior years, which will be on the same campus. Having had some experience in relation to watching young people go through the education system and some of the issues and concerns that confront them, their families, their teachers, and others in the community, it seems good sense to give consideration to composite schools.
One of the greatest problems you have is when young people go to school and are in fear of anything - it might be in fear of the teacher, their peers, threats from bullies in the school. Bullying has been raised by just about every speaker on this side of the House especially, as a major concern. When we have young people who are afraid to go to school, their anxiety levels are up, they do not learn, they do not participate, they withdraw, or they simply do not go. So, to have a school where young people can feel comfortable, where their anxiety levels are down, I believe, is the first essential you need.
If you go back to Transition when these young people start, there is bullying in Transition. I recall very well when I was in the equivalent of Transition, there was a young bloke I went through school with - and I think I mentioned this some years ago in this House. He was a bully, and he was a bully right from Transition. He was eventually convicted of murder and was serving a life sentence in Western Australia the last time I heard of him. Therein lies some of the problems we have in our community; that is, at the very start many of these things are not identified.
In any reports you pick up these days about successful education programs, there are two words that feature in the beginning almost in the first paragraph, in the executive summary and right throughout the entire report; that is ‘early intervention’. If we do not have early intervention, we start to have problems in our schools. Young people start to withdraw as children. I recall seeing this on numerous occasions in my former life. No doubt, the Chief Minister will have a go at me that I am some commissioner in exile, or some other government members may say it was not a worthwhile career. I say that all of us bring something to this House. One of the things I bring is some corporate knowledge of watching young people develop, and some of the problems and issues that face them.
You can do all sorts of things; you can build great classrooms, good libraries, or good skate parks. You can do whatever you like but, if you do not get the very basics right - and that is where kids feel supported, comfortable, and their anxiety levels are not through the roof - then the rest is wasted. Sure, it is there for others, but for that particular person who is a victim of some of those things, then physical facilities are wasted on that person; and therein lies a pathway of, sometimes, self-destruction; other times it is just a pathway of struggling through life. We all know when people struggle through life for years on end it is not a pretty journey, and sometimes has disastrous results, albeit at a young age or an older age. Their health suffers, they do not get the best jobs, and there is a range of issues mentioned in this particular statement on education and training that cover those types of issues.
If we do not get it right, what are we going to do? Are we going to spend more money and resources in our community trying to get it right? So, we have to go back to Transition when kids first come in. The years young people spend with their parents are very important. Those are very formative years of learning how to read, write and, basically, pay attention.
We have a number of people who perhaps do not get the amount of preliminary education that we, as a community, would like to see. Others sometimes get too much. It is these young people who do not get any of that preliminary learning we need to be concerned about. So, when they start school, we need to have every support service we can in those formative first couple of years of school, so these children are not distracted, not concerned and, by that, they are not distracting other children in their class and preventing them from gaining what this report says is the ability to get a first-rate education.
I have – as I am sure most members in this House have - children who have been through the education system. My children went through the government education system, and I have what I would call three of the most successful young people a parent could ever ask for. They work, they are responsible, they have good work ethics - all the things we all aspire to and we aspire our community to have. But there are those who miss out. There is no disputing that education is the key to everything else. I am sure we all agree on that. It is how we go about that.
When we look at middle schools, do we have issues there? Yes, we do. I have spent some time since the middle school concept was introduced just talking to people about the positives and the negatives. I would like to relate some of the stories these people are telling me, and also combine that with my own experience.
What occurs in life, especially with young boys, at the age of around 14 is probably one of the most difficult years you can have, with massive hormone fluctuations occurring in that year. I recall talking to numerous kids in Year 9, and you would simply ask them: ‘Why did you do that?’ These people look at you with this blank look and say: ‘I do not know’. My experience has been that, quite often, they do not; it is because they have these massive hormonal fluctuations they find it difficult to cope with a range of things.
When we look at human beings in general, there are various times in life when we all go through hormonal fluctuations and we do some strange things - both sexes. It is something that, generally, psychologists and counsellors accept as a human condition we need to be aware of. However, when you actually put Year 9 hormonal boys as the role models in a middle school, the Year 7 boys who come along sometimes struggle and say: ‘What are they doing, why are they doing that, and how do they get away with it?’
It is very interesting, when you look at what is on paper, considered to be a wonderful idea. The government certainly put out enough glossy brochures on middle schools: ‘We can do this and we can do that, and everything is fantastic and fabulous’. The problem is when you get down to the grassroots and talk to the people who have to run that particular program, and then put up with some of the issues that are coming to light.
It has been put to me - and I have had discussions with people at school council meetings, on an individual basis, and with other members of the community - how do you actually get that fixed? What has come back to me - and I have agreed with them; there have been a few I have not agreed with – is what happens in a composite school such as Marrara Christian College or O’Loughlin College, you have young people in Transition who are watching the older people. The older people are the upper primary students who have learnt, hopefully. They are looking at the people above them who are classed as the middle school area, and the middle school people are looking above them to the senior students.
I recall in my own high school education watching those who were then known as the prefects, the senior people, the student representative council. All those people were great role models for us coming into high school, to see how I should conduct myself, how I do this, how I interact with my peers, how I interact with friends, how I interact with the opposite sex. There was so much I learnt from watching people who were subscribing to a standard in a high school.
What happens in middle school is you leave primary school, and here are these young people, some of whom appear to others to be totally out of control. The experiment of middle schools, to a certain degree, has raised some interesting problems and some very interesting challenges for those at the coalface - the teachers. I worked with teachers for many years, and it is my belief that you cannot pay teachers enough. They do not teach for the money; they have to love the job to remain in it. It is my understanding that a recent survey showed there is about 40% of teachers not teaching - those who have the capacity, and are of the age, and not retired, are not teaching. They have left teaching and gone into other jobs.
I was talking to someone in the bank recently. They were new to the bank, and a former teacher. Whilst we were doing our banking, I had a quick chat with them, and they said they had enough of the behaviour management problems and trying to maintain some decorum in a classroom. That was the issue the member for Nelson raised as well. In private schools, there seems to be a different attitude, different standard. However, I convey to members who do not have that experience that in a government school, you are required to take all-comers. It is challenging, but there is a community that is different - we are all different, we all learn at different rates, the way we do things. In my experience with government schools I have witnessed some excellent programs, and some excellent teachers who work extremely hard to ensure every child has an opportunity to get a top-class education, as mentioned in this statement.
If you do not get it right at the beginning, then you start to struggle as you go through. I have observed that when young people do not get things right in Transition, Year 1 and 2, and start to struggle, you will see behaviour changes. Young boys especially will start to be boisterous and, sadly, young girls start to withdraw. That is a general observation – it is not all cases, but my information is that is generally what occurs. Sometimes it is not identified - especially when girls are just being quiet - that they are being bullied or feeling scared or insecure. When they sit in a classroom all day, and they are being bullied, and scared, they do not learn. As each year goes by, the problem compounds and they get to the point where they enter middle school at Year 7 and struggle to read and write.
We have heard stories from everyone in this House that there are young people who struggle to write their name, and I have seen it myself. These are people who do not want to go out each day and embarrass themselves. They realise they have to go to class, so they go there and fool around, distract people, and want other people to laugh with them. They are often suffering from severe low self-esteem, and they want people to laugh with them in an effort to lift their self-esteem and how they view themselves and, hopefully, try to get others to view them in a positive light.
Sadly, that just keeps manifesting itself and, when they realise that they can choose not to go to school and there are no great consequences for them and their parents, they start to truant from school. Then they are out on the streets. Once they do leave school, the input into their education normally comes to a sudden grinding halt. At least, whilst they are at school, you have them there and you have the ability to impart some knowledge to them.
When we talk about people who are idle out there, sitting in parks, sitting in Casuarina, school uniforms help that because they have to then bring other clothes to change into because of No School, No Service in some particular areas, which is a good thing. These people then start to wander around various shopping centres, parks, other institutions, and start to harass people at other schools trying to get other kids to go with them – no one wants to do this alone; they all want to be with someone. Being out there on your own and not knowing very much about life can be a very lonely place.
Therein lies your groundwork for drug dealers, paedophiles, and people who want to get these people into a life of drugs or prostitution or whatever. They are fertile grounds for people who do not quite understand exactly what is going on in life. They are sitting around on street corners, they are bored and, when someone comes along and says: ‘I can make your life really exciting for you,’ quite often these people do not have the ‘smarts’ to figure out what is really going on and they find themselves being used.
We know what happens then. They get involved into the drug scene. They either become users or they are dealers, or they deal to keep their drug habits going. Therein lies one of our major problems for youth in the Northern Territory and Australia and, generally, around the world. How do we change it? Early intervention. We need to get in there and change things. There are a couple of things we can look at. I hope the government continues its investment in schooling.
I note the Chief Minister said that all we get from the other side is ranting and raving. Well, for the information of the Chief Minister, part of our job on this side is to bring to the attention of government some of the issues and concerns from our constituents. We are all part of the democratic process that occurs in this House. I feel it is my role, as a local member, to bring to this House and the Chief Minister’s attention issues and concerns that confront not only young people but their parents, the community, teachers - everyone out there who is concerned about the level of education.
The Chief Minister has said: ‘Yes, it is our No 1 priority’. Getting information about some of the ills within the system and trying to fix them, I believe, is also a No 1 priority, not only for the Chief Minister, but for those in the community.
With the 407 additional teachers and the record budget, I am very pleased the government has had a GST windfall so we can continue to …
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am very grateful to the member for Brennan for making that application for an extension of time.
These are things that have to continue and I am very grateful the government is spending more money. The previous government did not have the benefit of the GST windfall to be able to do many of the things this government has been fortunate enough to be able to do. However, it is how you spend the money and the results you achieve. Regarding the ranting and raving accusation, I remind the government that money is an input, not an outcome. You have to achieve outcomes to ensure your money is spent wisely.
The member for Daly spoke about the Youth Round Table and what a great job it is doing. I am a great supporter of youth. I spent much of my life supporting them and trying to guide them, and giving them as much information as I could so they could have a great life and enjoy this fabulous lifestyle we have in the Northern Territory, although it has been depleted by certain events the government has caused and created.
The Youth Round Table used to be the Chief Minister’s Youth Round Table, and that was the esteem in which the previous CLP government held it. It was the Chief Minister’s Youth Round Table. Given that youth are 18% of our population and 100% of our future, it is very important we listen to youth, encourage them, and give them the very best facilities we can to improve their lot.
What is here and around us in our community and, in fact, in the Northern Territory, we have on loan, we do not own it. We are simply going to hand it over to the next generation when they come through. It is our responsibility as a community, let alone government and opposition, to create the environment where they can flourish and do the very best they can, not only for themselves, but for the Territory and, in fact, the country. If we do not, then we slip behind the rest of the world and our standard of living will just deteriorate.
I wonder why the Chief Minister chose to downgrade the input of youth from his area to the minister. I am assuming the minister will say: ‘Yes, I do a great job and talk to these people and consult with them’. When you talk to young people out there, especially those who have been on the Youth Round Table around the time it was changing, they expressed a little disappointment that it used to be held high on the agenda of governments - both governments, the former CLP government and the current Labor government. However, it has been downgraded a bit. They have expressed much disappointment. You would hope that, at some stage, we look at elevating that. I am sure, on our side of the House, we will have an interesting debate about elevating it to the Chief Minister’s area so youth can have the confidence and understand their voice is very important.
Another issue the member for Daly mentioned – perhaps, unfortunately, he is not aware of the history of some of the things the former CLP government did. Perhaps I have been around a tad longer than the member for Daly. He made a statement and said when we were in government youth were moving interstate for their education and it was all terrible. You would think we did not have electricity or roads here when the CLP was in government and, suddenly, the Labor Party come along and turned the lights on and paved the roads with gold. I do not know whether that is a correct version, but it is the version the member for Daly has.
In fact, in the 1980s, not long after self-government, the CLP government was attempting to get a university in the Territory. The federal government would not do that. If you recall, we had a Labor federal government in at the time - in 1983, Bob Hawke came in. In that era of supposed federal Labor government saying they cared about education, and the government here, a Labor government, said they cared about education, in the mid-1980s, no one was interested in building a university in the Northern Territory for our children.
I had three young children at that stage; they were just toddlers really. I wanted them to be able to go to university if they chose to. The CLP, thankfully, was determined and went it alone and formed the Northern Territory University at the old hospital buildings, which is now a vacant lot at Myilly Point. The old hospital was converted into a Northern Territory University. I can proudly say that in 1988 I was an enrolled student there studying law. Unfortunately, due to family circumstances, I had to withdraw from that and my life took another path.
The federal government eventually came on board. The old Darwin Community College was joined together with the Northern Territory University, and it all moved to its current location at Casuarina - and what a fine institution that is. We actually had - out of the Northern Territory budget, not the federal budget - to make our own university here. Gratefully, I can say I am a product of that university, my kids are, and I am sure there are plenty of people in this room who have fine qualifications from that great institution we now call Charles Darwin University …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, do you mind if I just acknowledge our distinguished guests?
Mr STYLES: Not at all, Madam Speaker.
____________________
Distinguished Visitors
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Australia
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Australia
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of His Excellency Mr Chen Yuming, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Australia; Mr Zhang Wei, Counsellor and Consul General of the Chinese Embassy; and Mr Chen Jiliang, Second Secretary of the Chinese Embassy.
On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
____________________
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. There is some history for the member for Daly so that he understands the CLP government did not sit idle. The CLP government had a far more restrictive budget in those days. It, obviously, concerns me when the government members say: ‘We spent more money than you did’. It is a chant that comes out of government all the time: ‘We spent more money here, we spent more money than you ever spent’. Well, the rivers of money that came in courtesy of the GST, which the Liberal Coalition in Canberra brought in, created some good opportunities for the Territory to improve. There are a couple of things for the member for Daly to ponder on.
Referring to the statement, it says:
The fact is, students who go to school every day are getting a top-class education, as good as anywhere else in the nation, Today’s students with strong attendance can look forward to a bright future, thanks to their ability to obtain a sound education through our Territory schools.
That is great, and I do not disagree with that. However, there are a number of people out in our community who need to be supported. I spoke about some of the issues young people have if they find themselves bullied, and a whole range of other issues they have to face at school at that age. Sadly, some take their own lives, and I believe later today we will be discussing that particular issue in this House. It is imperative we support those people and do everything we can to reduce their anxiety levels, and make it a safe and secure place where they can be relaxed, enjoy the company of their friends, and learn. When you have happy students who are contented, often I have found those students participate better, they interact better, they are better behaved, etcetera.
That brings me back to people in school who support our young people. Those are counsellors, school nurses, school-based police officers, particular staff who are there to help people who have all sorts of issues to deal with - not only learning issues, but everyday behaviour issues. What I note, though, is we struggle to maintain some of those positions. If I had more time I would enjoy speaking about the changes to the school-based policing program that worked so well and effectively when we were able to be there to support young people, to demonstrate in the school, when they felt bullied and pressured and did not feel very good about themselves, there was someone out there who had the authority to stand beside them, and say to them: ‘I am here to help you, and you do not have to put up with this’. That has a tremendous capacity to build these people’s resilience, to build their capacity to put up with peer pressure and bullying, and to help rid schools, classrooms and the playground of those particular forces that keep many of those kids away from school.
Madam Speaker, I just wish I had some more time to convey the last 18 pages of notes here.
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to add my support to the minister’s statement on Education in the Northern Territory. Delivering education for all young people, regardless of where they live in the Territory, and the value placed on it is a real point of difference between this Labor government and the Country Liberals.
I was very disheartened over a number of sittings, but particularly last week, to see the policy divide widening - not only the policy divide widening, but a lack of policy. I commend the minister for bringing this statement to the House. With such an important debate before us, yet, still there is no real policy from the Country Liberals. There has been some serious ideology from the Country Liberals. When we deconstruct the contribution of the members for Fong Lim and Braitling, those good old hard-core CLP values come back with no real policy document to gauge, and it makes me very concerned. We have those values coming back; they are clear across multiple portfolio areas, but still no policy document for education.
I have to question whether members on the other side know where they are hanging their hat. Are they really looking? The member for Sanderson said: ‘No, it is our prerogative to stand up and deliver for our constituents’ with a straight face. I accept that, but if you want to go back and read the Parliamentary Record then we will see how straight that face becomes. That is a very crooked road when you read, as I do, three years of the Parliamentary Record - not three days, not three weeks but three years of Parliamentary Record. These hard-core values in the area of education worry me greatly.
In response to the member for Blain, the Leader of the Opposition, I absolutely agree with his comments about curriculum. He failed to acknowledge real bipartisan support with one of the major curriculum reforms in the Northern Territory that started with the Country Liberals and was picked up by the ALP and carried on. That was the curriculum framework with a major turnaround into outcomes-based education. That was a good example of a bipartisan approach and things that worked. The member for Blain talked about the divide in outcomes. I remind him about the wonderful Gifted and Talented program that operates in the Department of Education and Training to extend those students. It is not about just accepting that good students who have well-balanced home lives will continue. No, this government believes in, as the Department of Education delivers, providing that extra gifted and talented support.
The member for Nelson talked about special needs support which needs to be factored into good policy as well. I have not seen a policy, so it is pretty hard to debate CLP policy. Special needs education will, no doubt, feature in that policy when it appears - if it appears – if the divide between the old hard-core CLP values and the more moderate approach from the current leader are ironed out in the back room somewhere.
Regarding skate parks, we have heard the political spin created in the back rooms of the Country Liberals by their spin doctors in relation to skate parks, to catch the media attention. We heard the minister reply numerous times that it related to a natural progression of students, school council, looking for good community outcomes and good educational outcomes. What it says to me is this government and the Department of Education and Training continually strive for what I call school spirit. On the other side, they criticise and they knock - and it is not just education policy; they have a go at everything in a manic attempt for one-line spin the media will use, and they ignore a concept like school spirit. How do you develop school spirit? You develop school spirit in partnership with students, parents, and communities.
For the member for Sanderson, I will go one step further because I really liked his contribution to debate on Neighbourhood Watch. If you energise public infrastructure, public places with people, then you actually deliver not only all the good community wellbeing and the creative and educational outcomes, you deliver passive surveillance. Being an ex-police officer, the member will understand what I am talking about: you deliver outcomes in community safety and security. When we factor in schools communities looking at developing infrastructure that can be shared with their community, they are actually going down the road of a community safe pathway to deliver holistic outcomes. I congratulate any school council, any student body, that wants to take that creativity and work with it.
I lived through the old Country Liberal Party policy - the policy that was defined. I was a public servant for 30 years and I lived and I breathed Country Liberal Party education policy. I challenged it then, and I am still challenging it now, but from the other side of the fence. Let us talk about that early policy. I acknowledge the member for Drysdale and congratulate him on the introduction of intonation to his public speaking, where he challenged us with, ‘How dare you!’ I really did enjoy that. You were definitely marked up in your presentation and your public speaking. I encourage you to explore intonation in your delivery in future, member for Drysdale.
What we are talking about in early policy is the Commonwealth Teaching Service. The Commonwealth Teaching Service was when the streets were paved with gold, as the member for Sanderson alluded to. They were literally paved with gold. As the member for Drysdale outlined, they were building schools across the Territory - absolutely. I was recruited as a Commonwealth public servant, came up here under the Commonwealth Teaching Service and went to one such school in Tennant Creek and spent my first year there. They were designed in Canberra; they looked like Canberra, but who cares? We worked with them; they were new. That was new infrastructure on the ground.
Member for Drysdale, it is a terrible thing for me to tell you, but the Country Liberal Party actually closed that school. They came into Tennant Creek and they closed that school. There is a debate in policy - let us get real. I am not going to slag off everything you guys do - come in the ABC …
Members interjecting.
Mr McCARTHY: I actually want to debate this, member for Drysdale.
What was happening in that school? It was a school that started to work on attracting Indigenous enrolment and attendance from people who were often, to some degree, exploring their first realm of formal education in a government school. That school was very successful in doing it. We debated, we argued, but we were beaten.
The policy change from the Country Liberal Party said: ‘No, close that school; turn it into an adult education facility’. We are not knocking that; we have a beautiful adult education facility. However, they did not listen to the community. They ignored what was happening on the ground, which were serious gains made by the community in welcoming and supporting Indigenous kids – a great reconciliation program there, putting the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together under the same roof. They ignored that and closed the school.
They created an adult education training facility. We already had one, but they created a new one. It is a wonderful facility but, to this day, those teachers, parents and community members who protested in the streets and marched with banners, still hold true. It was a regressive step in policy and in outcomes. That reflected the Country Liberal Party policy. I am not sure what it is today because we have not seen it and, therefore, we cannot debate it.
We have heard from a number of members about bush schools. There is no doubt that bush schools were a great institution. However, there was no secondary component. We hit the wall at the end of Grade 6. Grade 7 was pursued in most of those schools I remember, but we hit the wall - we had no secondary option. The secondary option was take the kids away, send them interstate, to Alice Springs or Darwin - and many kids were sent away. The point was they wanted to stay at home and continue their schooling like any other child in Australia. So, we debated and lobbied and, finally, secondary education in the bush was delivered by a Labor government. History says it and I stand here proud of it. I was one of the people who was lobbying on the ground. It was delivered by a Labor government; it was Labor policy. Thank God for Labor!
I was in the business of founding schools, so I was on the continual hunt for resources which brought me to loggerheads with CLP policy, the department, and the local member, who, by the way, was the Country Liberal Party member, Hon Ian Tuxworth. But, that is okay; we worked together. It was interesting when you think about Ian Tuxworth’s, I suppose, separation from the CLP. Let us call it that: a separation from the CLP - from Chief Minister to the National Party; still conservative but a major separation. Maybe members on the other side might like to do a bit of research and deconstruct, through their party machine, what took place. We certainly debated with that member, and that member ended up departing from the Country Liberal Party and stayed conservative. However, there was some conflict with policy there, no doubt.
There was some questioning of what was actually taking place. I hope people like me who lobbied our local member played a part in that. I hope people like me - colleagues and other constituents – who lobbied our local member played a part in that ...
_______________________
Visitors
Visitors
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, can I just interrupt you for a moment, please, to acknowledge some visitors in the gallery?
Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Mr Dion Dodd, the current Chair of the Minister’s Youth Round Table, and Ms Lauren Moss, a former Chair of the Minister’s Youth Round Table.
On behalf of the honourable members, we extend a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
_______________________
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Barkly.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I am very proud to be a part of government that has turned that policy on its head; to be part of a Labor government that acknowledges that young Territorians should have access to quality education, and young Indigenous Territorians should also have access to quality secondary education.
You can well understand my frustration with the hypocrisy from the CLP when they rail against governments’ investment in Indigenous housing, in government employee housing, and when they run down our education system for pure political point scoring. This is the value they put on education outside of the main centres ...
Mr Bohlin: Did someone write that speech for you?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! Standing order …
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, we are a government …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, could you just pause a moment please. Your standing order, member for Arafura?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Standing Order 51, Madam Deputy Speaker. What the minister is talking about is very important. I know everyone is entitled to be stupid, but the member for Drysdale actually abuses that privilege.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Arafura. I remind members of Standing Order 51:
- No Member may converse 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.
Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker ...
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member who just raised that point of order knows it is an unparliamentary comment. She should withdraw that now, thank you.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, which part is unparliamentary? Him being stupid? I said the …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Arafura, could you withdraw that, please, so we can move on with this debate?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I will withdraw that the member for Drysdale is stupid. They have glass jaws on the other side.
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! She should be on a warning.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will make that decision, member for Drysdale, but thank you for the advice. Member for Arafura, resume your seat. If we could move forward in this debate, please. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, this government is not in the business of running down our education system for cheap political points; we are committed to building a smart Territory.
Let us go to infrastructure and the support of education - as this was a major part of the minister’s statement - and the relationship between infrastructure and outcomes …
A member interjecting.
Mr McCARTHY: I will pick up on the interjection over there - the yawning and the bored look from the member of Greatorex. I am happy to be on my feet and I am happy they have to listen.
This government is investing in infrastructure to support our teaching staff to provide a high-quality education for our young people. The Education minister has outlined some of the projects delivered by the government, including the construction already of eight new schools and work now under way on a new Nemarluk School at Alawa.
As Construction minister, I am proud of this government’s record in delivering $270m of works under the Building the Education Revolution program in partnership with the Australian government. This is a program that has benefited every school in the Northern Territory, both government and non-government. It is the program the CLP voted down. It is amazing to see now they want to argue that, but they hung onto the Liberal coattails of their Canberra colleagues. I ask them to reflect on the Parliamentary Record entries, go back, and then deny it again and again; it was an example of major policy divide. It was policy where we were not only building educational infrastructure, but we were promoting business and jobs in the construction industry.
More than 70 Northern Territory businesses have been involved in the delivery of BER works. These works have been an important boost for the construction industry in the face of the global financial crisis and a tightening of the market. These projects have meant real job opportunities for Territorians, keeping people on the tools on the worksite. What would have happened if these companies did not have these opportunities? Let the CLP answer that. They claim to be the party of business. Have they explained themselves to the businesses that are actually rolling out the BER?
The Building the Education Revolution is making a real difference on the ground. A total of 185 schools have already benefitted, including in my electorate of Barkly. I have not seen an infrastructure roll-out like this for many years. This is certainly nation building stuff.
In the time that I have, I would like to table this photograph for the member for Drysdale. This is a good example of infrastructure delivered under the CLP. Let us deconstruct exactly what was taking place. This was Robinson River School, delivered under the Country Liberal Party. However, they had a bit of a red ragger, as the founding teacher appointed encouraged the community not to accept that infrastructure. I was the founding teacher actually, and it was the second school in the list of five. I encouraged the community to not accept that infrastructure. It was substandard, it was dangerous, and it was not going to work.
Under the Country Liberal Party, we achieved our objective. We had a demountable classroom that was fast-tracked into the remote area of Robinson River community - on the station, actually, in those days. It was an outcome and it was fast-tracked by a Country Liberal Party local member ...
Mr Bohlin: When was that? Let us be factual.
Mr McCARTHY: This is Robinson River School in 1986 …
Mr Bohlin: 1986?
Mr McCARTHY: 1986. That is the last time I saw Country Liberal Party policy, because we do not have it here today. In 1986, that was infrastructure in the bush.
We are talking about the BER in this statement. We are talking about a new age. We are talking about a proactive Labor government that supports infrastructure in the bush ...
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that the member be granted an extension of time to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I thank honourable members. We can compare apples with apples. We can compare policy with policy, and the Building the Education Revolution that was denied by Liberal conservatives, but supported by this government - a Labor government - in partnership with a federal Labor government.
I will show the House another photograph, and I table it. This was the teacher’s residence in the same project. Once again, this infrastructure was substandard and we had to go through intense negotiations with the government to have this improved. It was the year 1985. I remember well the telegram I sent over the Royal Flying Doctor Service to the Department of Education in 1985, requesting a dozen Glad garbage bags and a dozen rolls of electrical tape to waterproof the teacher’s residence at Robinson River. Those on the other side look like they are reeling at the moment - and thank God for that, because I am very proud of it. Once again, this is the last time I saw CLP education policy. I will table that, if members are interested.
Two weeks ago, I visited Robinson River School. Robinson River School now has five teachers, five assistant teachers, school support staff - a far cry from old policy, old infrastructure. I am proud to stand here and say it was a journey. We embarked on that journey. We had to work through tough policy, and no recognition of what we were trying to do in the bush. We got there. Under the BER, Robinson River School has received a $945 000 investment for new classrooms and $75 000 for refurbishments of the school fencing. Robinson River School was very proud to tour me, as an old staffer from that school when it was a one-teacher school, to show me new classrooms, a library, a staff room, and a VOQ - a visiting officer quarters. They were very proud to show me their new school infrastructure in one of the remotest parts of the Barkly.
I also make quick mention about Tennant Creek Primary School that will benefit from $2.5m for a multipurpose hall. I was also at Jilkminggan recently to celebrate the opening of their new secondary classrooms in the bush - classrooms reflecting new age technology for new age kids. It was wonderful to be there. I made sure I initiated the conversation about silver bullets, and the older members of that community regaled in our conversation about silver bullets. I happened to compliment them on their incredible infrastructure delivered under the Building Education Revolution, and the agreed with me.
Aunty Jessie, a TO, talked about how many kids they have now and how it is so important to provide new infrastructure to support this growing number of children in the bush - children who need, require, and want a good education.
Let us back track a little and talk about CLP education policy. Let us talk about Learning Lessons. Learning Lessons was a major review into Indigenous education commissioned by the Country Liberal Party. There was no doubt the Territory celebrated that. I was fortunate to be recruited to design the self-managing school. I was appointed to a very good team of professionals to look at the recommendations of a major review into education. My job was to design the self-managing school to start to address attendance, engagement, outcomes, community participation, parents as partners, and all those great concepts around education. Unfortunately, that project was shut down …
A member: By the CLP.
Mr McCARTHY: Absolutely! That project was a CLP government at the time. They looked at the dollars, the numbers, the challenges in the new policy changes that needed to be made, and they said: ‘We cannot really deal with it. We are interested in implementing some of those recommendations. I remember the term well, as I will never forget it - the recommendations that were put up to be implemented were to be cost neutral. I learnt this new corporate term from the CLP - it is called cost neutral.
I packed my bags and went home to Tennant Creek and kicked on with my education career. Labor came to government and the Learning Lessons recommendations started to appear; they started to roll out. This is a policy debate: the Labor government with policy, the Country Liberal Party with a denial of policy, and the Country Liberals at the moment in the Northern Territory with no education policy. This is a debate, and I have my time on my feet, and those on the other side are struggling with what they hear.
The Labor government started to roll out the recommendations of Learning Lessons. One of those important recommendations related to alternative education programs. It was a very innovative way to address diversity in the community and address kids with high support needs, particularly behavioural and emotional, as the member for Sanderson rightly pointed out - real challenges in the school community. They were catered for when we started to commence this exploration of alternative education programs.
Coming with that now is new thinking in our new policy about alternative timetables. That is not rocket science but it is in policy, it is a strategy which is now being rolled out. On the other side, maybe you want to think about that in what you want to include in your policy, when you actually write it and deliver it.
With regard to government employee housing, it was interesting last night to try to see that argument prosecuted by the member for Braitling. I do not think he got there. I do not really know what he was trying to achieve. The photograph I tabled will show you where I started with government employee housing at Robinson River. I ended up actually having that renovated and it became the residence for a family of three.
In a smart Northern Territory, this Labor government is building the smart Northern Territory. We can only imagine what the future might hold in education as new technologies continue to break down the tyranny of distance. That is why this side of the house, a Labor government, supports the delivery of the National Broadband Network. The links of NBN and the arts in education are phenomenal. They are just incredible when you think about the outcomes they will produce when we look and feel and explore high resolution images and audio links, when we can start to make links with schools, not only around the Northern Territory and the country, but all over the world.
This policy is powerful in the early childhood area with the Family as First Teachers and the mobile preschools. A comment made by the member for Braitling - the good old chestnut - that a mobile preschool teacher goes out there and no one turns up. What a crock! These teachers are highly professional and motivated and, when they go into the communities – and I have seen the mobile preschools operate in the Barkly - these teachers go out and look for children and families and they engage people. That is what they are paid to do. I know that it is happening because I have been there and seen it. To come into this House and make those old chestnut claims to try to destabilise and devalue a new innovative concept is very unprofessional.
The Every Child, Every Day policy is important to mention as it is a process. The member for Blain got caught up in the sticks and carrots. This is a process of engaging parents and kids with high support needs back into education. You need to read the policy, and you will probably end up adopting those principles because this is a good policy.
All I can say is what I have witnessed is 10 years investment in education by a Labor government. Just imagine if the CLP had invested for those 27 years. Then we would have 30 years but, unfortunately, we have not. But we have 10 years and we plan to have 10 more and, then, 10 more after that.
Madam Speaker, I am very proud to support the minister’s statement.
Debate adjourned.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I call on general business, in accordance with Standing Order 93.
MOTION
Youth Suicide in the Northern Territory
Youth Suicide in the Northern Territory
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I am waiting for a couple of papers, but I will continue. I did not realise we were starting a little early.
I move that the Northern Territory parliament notes:
Madam Speaker, life is worth living. Life is a gift and we only have one chance to live it. Today, we have come to debate a scourge on our society: youth suicide - and especially Aboriginal youth suicide.
Suicide is a taboo subject for many people. However, with so many people committing suicide in the Northern Territory it can no longer stay taboo. We need to find ways to tackle this most important issue, and I hope today we can do that in a bipartisan way - not meaning we should not be critical, but balancing the fact we need solutions.
I am no expert on suicide or mental illness, but I know a number of people in the rural area who have committed suicide, and the devastating effect it has on families and friends: the shock, the grief, the emptiness and always the question – why? I know, through my own family, a number of suicides that have occurred in the bush.
In an ABC interview with Leon Compton in October 2010, with the Australian of the Year and Professor of Youth and Mental Health of the University of Melbourne, Patrick McGorry, he said:
- … it …
That is suicide:
- … definitely needs to be in the public discourse because otherwise the public don’t realise that it’s a 40% bigger killer of Australians than the road toll … if this number of Australians were dying in Afghanistan or Iraq, or on the roads for that matter, there’d be a national outcry. I mean, it’s 40% more than the road toll and the thing is … preventable. Does this cut a sense that somehow it’s inevitable and there’s not much we can do about it? That’s completely wrong. I would say two-thirds of suicides that occur could be prevented with the right level of investment in mental healthcare and also in wider … community-wide … programs of awareness and suicide prevention.
It was, therefore, interesting to also hear him say in that interview:
- Mental healthcare is the poor cousin that’s been totally neglected by state and federal governments for a long time. We’re spending about 6% of our health budget on mental care; it demands at least 14% of our health budget if it’s going to really get to grips with the problems of suicide and preventable disability in young people, and even throughout life.
Without looking at the causes of suicide, we know two things. As Patrick McGorry said, we should aggressively report it - that is, suicide - and we need to fund mental health much more than we do today.
In this debate today, I am interested in the government’s response to both those statements by Patrick McGorry. I am also interested to hear the opposition’s solutions. Or will they use this to play politics again?
My emphasis today will be more on Aboriginal youth suicides. That, in no way, diminishes the fact that the suicide rate of non-Aboriginal people is also of great concern. My rural colleague, the member for Goyder, will be emphasising that issue in her contribution, and I thank her for that.
To put suicide into perspective, I have used figures from a paper presented at the Aboriginal Suicide Prevention and Capacity Building Workshop, Suicide Prevention Australia, Alice Springs 2007. The author was Leonore Hanssens, a PhD student at the time, who is now a researcher with CDU. I have also used quotes and figures from a number of other papers she has written. It is possible that since that paper was presented, figures have changed, but the figures she quoted are still very disturbing.
In 1991, approximately 5% of all suicides in the Northern Territory were Aboriginal. By 2006, that figure was nearly 60%. The percentage of Aboriginal children and adolescent suicide compared to non-Aboriginal children had increased from 40% in 1996 to 80% in 2006. Being male and young is an extreme risk factor for Aboriginal people. In the Northern Territory, 91% of Aboriginal suicides are male; 83% of Indigenous suicides are people between the ages of 15 to 34. Of the children between 10 and 14 years who commit suicide, 100% hang themselves. There has been an 800% increase in male Aboriginal suicides in the decades 1981 to 2002. Unemployment is a very high risk factor, with 72% of Aboriginal people who committed suicides unemployed.
The author went on to note that there are young Aboriginal people who are employable and representing an increasing percentage of our Northern Territory population who are assigned to the ranks of itinerant, aimless, and unemployed. Location of suicide does not appear to make a difference - urban, rural and remote share the same risk. The author mentioned cultural factors and quoted a Tiwi Island health worker who worked for many years with her own people. The health worker said:
- Our culture is developing in response to the environment, and if the environment changes rapidly, our culture has difficulty in adapting and we suffer from stress.
She went on to say:
- Suicide is becoming a common way for people to deal with jealousy, domestic violence, gambling, card games, money problems, drugs and alcohol abuse.
She also said:
- In the midst of a conflict, a common response from the men is to threaten, ‘I’ll hang myself’, and an element of imitation has been identified in this pattern of response to difficult issues, family conflict and times of crisis.
She said:
- For reasons unknown, suicides began to be common from the early 1990s.
The author, Leonore Hanssens said:
- In the decade from 1996 to 2006, there were 180 Aboriginal suicides in the Northern Territory, 91% of them young, usually married men. Not one person was over 50, making this a young person’s phenomenon, and there is another phenomenon, imitation or suicide contagion, or a cluster of suicides.
In the Indigenous health report, Leonore Hanssens told the author of this report, Ron Banks, how she has been trying to find out why. She said:
- In many cases, a single suicide would precipitate a series of copycat suicides …
…
… there was a contagion effect at work - the feeling that one death stimulated others to do the same.
Ms Hanssens also mentioned echo clusters in a report to a Senate inquiry. Echo clusters are distinct clusters of suicide occurring after the initial suicide. This resulted in 44 deaths in two decades on the Tiwi Islands. What is also worthy of note is that 44 deaths can be multiplied many times to come up with a figure of attempted suicides.
I continue to quote from the Indigenous health report, and I will read the last paragraph from that report, again written by Ron Banks about the work of Leonore Hanssens:
- This year, she will continue her research at CDU, with a new phase of investigation - interviewing Indigenous families to compile what are known as ‘psychological autopsies’. As the name implies, the autopsy aims to uncover some of the social, emotional and psychological routes of suicide.
It’s a delicate area for any researcher to venture into, but at the same time it can provide an emotional outlet for families already traumatised by losing a loved one.
‘The typical suicide victim in Indigenous communities is aged between 15 and 45, and is usually an unemployed married man with children’, she explains. ‘In compiling the psychological autopsies the grief of the family seems to tumble out. It can be a therapeutic experience for many of them, who may not have spoken before about their grief.
‘What we do know already is that feelings of shame and humiliation have led to many of the suicides. These are men with a family and they feel a sense of hopelessness because there is no work to support them in their community.
‘Imagine being a young family man with no job, no money and no future and all there is to do is sit around and drink alcohol with your mates and maybe smoke ganja. The devastating effect of alcohol and drugs cannot be underestimated in cases of suicide. A recent study in the NT reported that in 71% of suicide cases, alcohol and drug use was recorded’.
Hanssens says suicide in communities should be seen as a social issue with roots in the economic dispossession of Indigenous people. However, it had become ‘medicalised’ as a mental health problem in much of the previous research, which prevented the problem being examined in a wider context.
- ‘I want to explore the social factors’, she says. ‘If we don’t help the men or we ignore their problems and concentrate mostly on support for women and children, then the problem will only get worse and will result in cultural disintegration of these communities. We need strong Indigenous men to be our next generation of fathers, husbands and role models to other younger men’.
I also feel social factors play a big part in suicides - Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal. What is the relationship between depression and broken or dysfunctional families, or parents who are never home or do not know how to parent? When there is no one to talk to in times of stress and pain, with so many broken marriages, how can many young people feel they are wanted or cared about? Young people can go through great emotional stress, especially when a special relationship falls apart. Is there anyone there to help? Most of us when we were young would have gone through relationship stress, and it is an issue we have to look at.
Young people are bombarded through the Internet, mobile phones, iPods, movies, satellite television, and all kinds of music. Unfortunately, some of that medium can be a celebration of death rather than life.
Our local newspaper constantly ran stories promoting euthanasia, which is about suicide, for months on end. I do not say the euthanasia debate is not unworthy of coverage, but constant coverage sends out the wrong message. They even berated our Chief Minister and Opposition Leader for having a different point of view. The paper paid lots of attention to dying, about finishing life when things are bad - not a good message for young people considering suicide.
Have our beliefs in God been replaced with hedonism, where pleasure is the ultimate pursuit, and this is manifested in materialism and short-term satisfaction, which usually leads to disappointment and frustration? Many young people, especially out bush, have few choices that enable them to feel dignity in living. Without work, what is a person? I repeat what I have always said about welfare: it is something that has to change. What is the future living in a community where there is overcrowding and very little pride, where it is difficult to raise a family with little room to live, where there is access to drugs and alcohol? We know what problems that brings.
I wonder about the quandaries we are dealing with. For instance, why are there suicides on communities - the main areas - where people have not lost their land, such as the Tiwi Islands or Arnhem Land, where people can live a traditional life if they want and go hunting and gathering? That always seems an anomaly in this debate. Why, with all that beautiful land, has there been so much darkness and human tragedy?
I was talking to Leonore Hanssens. We were discussing why, for instance, on Bathurst Island this occurred since about 1986. I thought to myself, perhaps there is a correlation between a society that had both strong cultural bonds and strong religious bonds. When I was at Bathurst Island, most people went to church. When I was at Bathurst Island, I saw plenty of ceremonies; they were strong. I wonder whether somewhere in that time period those things changed. Whether it was loss of religious belief or spiritual acknowledgement, I do not know. However, it is an interesting area to look at: why, when suicides were not noted previously, we had this change in the late 1980s and it has continued? It is just a thought, because all I am doing is putting forward issues that need to be looked at as part of the bigger picture.
There are also places where there is no suicide. Why is that so? Is it about strong leadership, strong families, and beliefs? That is an area that deserves attention.
I also note that male suicides are far higher than female suicides. Between 2000 and 2005, there were approximately 100 male deaths to 10 female deaths. Again, when I was talking to Ms Hanssens today, she said whilst previously there had been quite a few attempts by young girls to commit suicide, they were not successful. Unfortunately, what is happening now is they are becoming successful, so that number is rising. That is alarming.
Are the changing and sometimes confusing ideas about the roles of a male in our society reflected in the confusion of young people today? I do not think any of us, as males, found it easy seeing what roles males now play, compared to when I was growing up. You knew there was the father, who was the money earner, and the mother who stayed at home. It was pretty clear; no one really questioned that. Our non-Aboriginal society has certainly questioned it, and more women have equal opportunities in work, in what they do, and that role is not the same as it was when I was being brought up in the 1950s and 1960s.
Is that also something that is affecting males in Aboriginal society? They would have had a clear cultural path in a certain direction that would have been set out over thousands of years. Now, with the advent of television, radio, magazines, western influence and western ideas - in many cases, ideas not based on a belief in God; they are just simply, you might say, a materialistic basis - how confusing could that be to many of our young men as well? What sorts of messages have been sent out from our own society to those people? I am only putting that out as just as part of the debate. I am certainly not saying it is the cause.
We need to promote life as the greatest gift. We need to be positive about life and show in our own lives why there are many reasons to live: family, children, friends, work, music, sport, arts, sharing, community, that beautiful sunset - and there are many beautiful sunsets on Bathurst Island - good music, and good wine. We only have one life to live; let us live it to the full.
Are we afraid to ask: ‘What reason is there for being on this earth?’, and: ‘Is there a God who planned for us to be on this earth?’ Today one is criticised for declaring one’s religious beliefs, especially if you are in politics. However, if you have a religion of non-belief, you seem to be exempt from such criticism. It seems to me today discussions about why we are here, who we are, where life comes from, what happens when we die, are seen as no-nos and are drowned out by the busy lives we live. The meaning of life, as the Monty Python film said, is something I believe all of us have to address. If life is confused with no goals, no meaning, no direction, and little love then it is no wonder people turn to radical solutions like drugs, alcohol and suicide.
I recently went to a talk on the Casino lawns by a Professor, Baroness Greenfield, a foremost British neuroscientist who spoke at this Alzheimer’s fundraising function. I will quote something she said at that function, and also at the National Press Club in Canberra. This might be a little disjointed but you have to picture that she is talking to the press club here.
… the story is therefore just to think about how the essence of you, what you’re feeling and thinking right now - I hope you’re not asleep. I don’t know, I’m assuming you’re conscious, yeah? That however close you are to the people at your table; however articulate you are as all you media people are; however poetic or musical; no one – no one can get inside your head and see the world through your eyes. Nor can you through them. You can’t have a firsthand perspective of the world from someone else. Only you. And for 100 000 years no one has had that perspective, that only you have.
How does that relate to today’s debate? When I heard the Baroness speak about that, I felt straightaway how wonderful it is that we are all special and unique. No one is the same as us and, because of that, we have something to offer the rest of the world while we are alive. We need to recognise how special we all are, no matter where we come from, the colour of our skin, where we live, our age, our gender, our talents, our blemishes, our failings - we are something special. That is something we need to enforce, especially with young people. We need to hold out a hand when they need it to ensure we are there when they need help, and to tell them we care.
Today’s discussions will, I am sure, revolve around what the government is doing. However, this issue is not just about the government; it is about community taking a leading role and facing up to the problem of suicide. I know people are already - I will mention some now - and they should be congratulated for their hard work. I will just give a few examples.
We have young people like Dion Dodd, who won the 2011 NAIDOC Youth of the Year Award. Dion is an active member of the Darwin Suicide Prevention Network which aims to reduce incidence of suicide by promoting education support services. We have people like Miriam Rose from Daly River, who came to parliament yesterday to talk about the problems of suicide in her community. I have known Miriam - or Ungunmerr to me - since I arrived on the Daly 41 years ago. She spoke about the suicides and attempted suicides that have deeply affected her community and her own family. There have been five suicides at the Daly River in recent times, including one girl. Suicides were unknown in my time there.
The big question is: why has this all happened? What has caused this tragic situation to occur in relatively recent times? Miriam told how at least four of the deaths at Daly were males who had broken relationships. They were not feeling good about themselves, felt like they were moving from pillar to post, and got into alcohol and drugs. She also mentioned that FaHCSIA helped when attempts of suicide were made, but she noted there was no support in the time between the threats. She also mentioned how there is a non-trained drug and alcohol person, the Red Cross has a mental health worker, as does the government and CatholicCare. It seems they are working at the Daly, but what they are doing and how they fit in with one another, we are not sure. The question is: why do we need so many organisations?
Miriam also mentioned the intervention, the shires, the loss of the old CDEP which now seems all about training but not work, about giving people the reason to get out of bed, and of trying to develop employment on the Daly.
We have other people like Julie Turner, mentioned in the news the other day, who is working as a volunteer with the Darwin Region Indigenous Suicide Prevention Network. She is trying to get Aboriginal people to access whitefella organisations like Lifeline and beyondblue.
We have people like Dr John Rudge and Dr Ruth Rudge, two local clinical psychologists who spend two days in their Darwin office and two days on the Tiwi and Goulburn Islands. They seem to be the only psychologists out there working with people, listening to their worries, the troubles they are having, and kids not going to school. They believe remote health should employ psychologists.
Also, a man called Damien Armstrong, who lived for many years in the Ilparpa town camp in Alice Springs. Of the 15 closest friends he went to school with, seven are now dead - five of those suicides. He is concerned that self-worth is being lost among many young people. Damien conducts cultural tours in the region. As the Alice Springs News said Damien:
- … feels life is rich in its possibilities and he’s optimistic, but sadness, anger and a strong desire for change in justice are not far below the surface.
We need to acknowledge government has a very important role to play. I certainly hope they will be able to answer a few of the questions I put forward today. For instance, can you give us a report on the Northern Territory’s Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2009 to 2011? Has it been successful or a failure? Or have you a new strategy or action plan? There were six action areas in that report; have they all been actioned? There was the Northern Territory Strategic Framework for Suicide Prevention in 2003. What happened to that strategic framework? Do we still have a suicide prevention coordinator announced by the minister at that time in 2005? What happened to the Life Promotion Program in the Top End? Why was it closed down, and who evaluated the program before it was closed down? Have we enough trained medical health workers living in communities? Why, in the 2030 plan, is the issue of suicide not mentioned? I am sure there will be other questions from other speakers, but it would be good if the government could explain its strategies, programs, and budgets. There have been many reports and strategies, but what we need is outcomes that actually reduce the number of suicides.
I just need to make a note before I close because other issues have arisen when I was talking to Ms Hanssens. One of the concerns she had was that we are not dropping off in numbers of suicide as in the rest of Australia. Australia has seen a fall in the number of suicides. Why is it not occurring in the Northern Territory? She said also you have to have post-intervention people who are working with people who have attempted suicide. You must continue to work with those people, and we need to have those people on the ground.
I have only just touched the edge. This is a very important question. We have National Suicide Prevention Week coming up in September, so it is a very appropriate time for this debate. It is an important debate. It will be a painful debate for many people here, but it is a debate we must have. I hope many people in this parliament will contribute to this. I hope it will not end up being a blame game-type debate, because it is just too important. These are difficult issues anywhere in Australia, but they are more difficult in the Northern Territory because many of our more disadvantaged people are, in percentage terms, way outside the normal levels of suicide in Australia. It is over double the numbers of people in percentage terms.
As this is occurring in the Northern Territory, as we are the Northern Territory parliament, we need to contribute today in a positive manner. We need to recognise all the people who work in the communities helping people who could be at risk of committing suicide, but also the people who have to work with families who have to suffer the trauma and sadness, the vacuum that occurs when someone suicides. I have seen figures such as that for one suicide something like 10 to 15 people are affected. I have also seen figures that show, for every suicide, there are somewhere between 10 to 50 attempted suicides. The figures I gave today only show you those who have been successful. There is large group of people out there who have not been successful, and we need to put in systems and programs that will reduce the need for these people to think about suicide.
I do not know 100% the reasons why people suicide, except what I have heard - relationships breaking down. My belief is that we will continue to have these problems if we do not give people work. Young people, especially males, need work. We need to give them some dignity, some reason for living, decent housing, and a decent education.
I know some of that responsibility has to go back on people themselves, but we also need to ensure we can change things. The things governments can change, they should change. I say today, welfare is still my No 1 hatred, because I believe it is taking away the dignity of the human being. If you take away the dignity of a human being, why would you want to live? With very high unemployment, as Miriam Rose said: ‘We are sick of CDEP training. Some of our blokes have been trained and trained and trained. We want a job’. Daly River is a great place to get jobs. It has a bitumen road to a major tourist attraction. There are great opportunities if we could work towards giving people real employment in the tourism industry on the Daly River.
I believe we need some major changes. Yes, we can build new houses, we can build more houses, we can put new schools in, but we have to have people with jobs to improve their dignity, to get pride back in their communities, to also try to build up families. Families are the base of our society. There are many issues around at the moment about gay marriage and all that sort of stuff, but the core of our society still must continue, especially in Aboriginal communities where you have families that are much more extended families than some of our own. You need to reinforce the importance of, and support, those structures because, without those structures, people do not have the support they need in times of pain. When they are struggling through relationships, if there is no one to talk to, then what else do you expect of some of these people?
Madam Speaker, I look forward to the contribution from both sides of parliament. I hope out of this debate something really positive comes. I thank Leonore Hanssens for allowing me to use some of the papers she has printed. I understand there are probably quite a number of other people who have studied this issue. I also look forward to listening to members of parliament, who I know have personal stories to tell. I realise that will be very difficult, but that is the sort of pain we must go through to do something about turning around this taboo subject of suicide so that our younger people live their lives to the full.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, in speaking to this motion tonight I genuinely thank the member for Nelson for bringing this forward because it is a very difficult issue. It is an issue that, in many ways, is taboo to talk about in our community and society. Given the extent of suicide in the Northern Territory, it is important for us, as a parliament, to debate the issue and try to find a way forward, with our community, to start reducing the incidence of suicide in the Northern Territory.
It is the greatest tragedy that could happen to any family; to have someone in their family commit suicide. We can all speak personally about this. I believe all of us have been touched by the tragedy, devastation, and loss through suicide; I, through my family, but also through friends.
As a member of parliament for over 11 years, I do not want to count the number of people I have known who have committed suicide; it would be very distressing. I know on our side of the parliament we have these conversations from time to time. I understand, to the core of who I am, how difficult this issue is. As members of parliament, when we see this happening in our community, and our community is reaching out to us as leaders to look for some answers and a way forward, we feel powerless and helpless in having that debate with people who have suffered the biggest loss you could ever suffer; that is, to lose a child or a loved one.
This is going to be a difficult debate this evening. We have had discussions on our side of the House regarding a potential way forward for this parliament. My colleague, the Minister for Health, will advance some of that thinking in his contribution, and I hope the House accepts that thinking as a way forward.
The member for Nelson quoted some facts and figures. My advice is that Coroner’s reports show 232 suicides in the Territory in the last five years. Some of the breakdown of that incredible amount of tragedy is the number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous deaths are roughly the same: 121 Indigenous, 111 non-Indigenous. The majority of the member for Nelson’s contribution was the tragedy that is occurring in Indigenous communities, but that tragedy is occurring at a similar level in the non-Indigenous community. Proportions? The mathematicians will do the sums on prevalence.
In the raw numbers, though, the highest rates of suicide, I am advised, are young males in and around Darwin. Even though we have this tragedy occurring in the bush, it is also a tragedy that is occurring in Darwin. Those of us who live here all know of people over the last few years and going back - the tragedy of suicide in and around Darwin.
It is devastation that these lives were brought to an end so tragically. It is those young people who will never seek to live their dreams, hopes and aspirations. It is a real tragedy. As a parent, I cannot begin to contemplate the enduring pain, grief, and loss. I do not think any parent could ever possibly recover from losing one of their children in this way. The parents I know who have lost children go through torture every single day in asking the question of themselves as to why, what more could they have done, whether they are to blame, and what they should have done. Those thoughts of that questioning never leave people who lose a child, and that grief extends forever.
I do not have any answers to the questions the member for Nelson was posing. My colleague, the Health Minister, can talk about specific programs. That big question of why - why do people do this, why do people take the ultimate way out of their problems? - is a question I have asked myself on many occasions when I have had experience in my family - not my immediate family, but extended family - but also amongst some very good friends who have lost children.
That question of why is the eternal question that never gets answered. We know, more often than not, the incident is sparked by a painful event that happens in someone’s life. They fail to come to grips with that issue and spiral into an ever more painful space of despair until such time as they want that pain to stop and take the ultimate way forward and suicide occurs.
With all of these issues many of these painful events that happen in people’s lives - whether it is a relationship breakdown or as a result of abuse or bullying - whilst they are occurring, it is very hard for them to talk about. The fact that people do not talk about those issues, do not go on and seek help, do not talk to family and friends about the way they are feeling, makes it very hard to intervene. I suppose it is for all of us to try to pick up when something is happening in the way people are behaving and communicating. The questions we should ask might be quite personal questions that people do not want to talk about. This is complex. There are no simple and easy solutions to the reasons why people commit suicide.
We are going to have this debate. It will be really interesting to hear people’s views on this tonight. We had some considered thinking on this side in a way forward we will talk about. However, it is very clear: this is not just an issue for governments to solve. Obviously, governments have to play a part in resourcing programs and trying to work with the community and society to see this does not increase. In fact, we see a reduction in suicide. It is a debate a whole community and families should have. It is a debate that does not often happen. We need, I believe, a community approach in talking about this issue and how we, as a community, with government, are going to build resilience in those who are tormented in their personal life, and how we go about that.
It was an interesting statistic - I did not have it in my notes – from the member for Nelson that 72% of people who commit suicide are unemployed. This is a compelling statistic in the hopelessness that unemployment brings to people. Fortunately, in my life, I have never been unemployed. I cannot think of anything worse than getting out of bed in the morning and not knowing what I am going to do for the rest of the day, and for that to happen day after day, month after month, year after year. These people are just living on welfare payments and handouts that provide for the very basics of life and day-to-day needs, but certainly do not give them an opportunity to enjoy life and to build a life for themselves and their families.
There is a very old and a very true saying - and it is not meant in the political terminology - that there is dignity in labour. There is dignity in work and, without work - I can only speak as a man, but I am sure it is the same for a woman - there is no dignity unless you are contributing to society and you are actively engaged.
That number is a very telling number if it is right - and I am sure it is - that 72% of people who commit suicide are unemployed. That is why I ask where do governments step in? We need to focus on unemployment as an issue and try to get people who are unemployed long term into the workforce. The government can do that in levers it has with the welfare system and also with training programs.
Over the years, I have had discussions with health professionals, the Coroner, as well as our police, about many people who end their lives being caught up in a spiral of alcohol and drug abuse. Of course, being caught in that spiral can certainly lead you into places you would not otherwise go, and make it easier to take that decision. That is why, I suppose, again through my life’s experiences, I have a zero tolerance approach to people who peddle drugs in our community, because they peddle in misery. I believe that people who profit from the sale of drugs in our community are amongst the lowest forms of life we have in our society. Those people profit from the sale of drugs which does, in the worst circumstance, lead to people losing their lives.
I make no apology for being single-minded in giving our police the ammunition they have to bring these people to justice - to seize their assets and throw them into gaol, because that is where people who peddle in this misery belong. In our remote communities, particularly, the potency of the cultivated marijuana people grow or smuggle into the Northern Territory and sell in our communities causes a level of psychosis that heavy marijuana use induces in people. Those people who sell those drugs into our community are amongst the lowest forms of society, knowing full well the psychosis, the dependency, and the damage caused by that drug.
In response to whether we do more in enforcement around the running of drugs into communities and the alcohol and drug issues, it will be interesting to hear the debate on that. Police can seize assets. We have the harshest penalties in the nation but, all the time that large profits are there to be made by selling small quantities of drugs that cause enormous grief, I suppose people will be tempted by those large profits.
In relation to where we go from here, obviously, investment in education is critical if we want better employment outcomes. The member for Nelson talked about the bush. Obviously, that investment in education is absolutely critical to give those kids the skills and qualifications to take jobs that are available. I will not go into all the detail on education; we have had that debate today. We are committed to doing that.
I reinforce the importance of programs like the Clontarf Football Academy. If 72% of all males who commit suicide are unemployed, then my hope for something that is working and might reduce those figures are programs like Clontarf. When we kicked off Clontarf five or six years ago in Alice Springs, after Gerard Neesham came to see me, the tragedy was there were no young Indigenous males leaving the high school system in Alice Springs completing Year 12 - not one. Virtually all of those young Indigenous males in Alice Springs were dropping out of school at 15. There is one sure-fire outcome of dropping out of school at 15 without any qualifications; that is, you are going to be unemployed. Most of those kids would be unemployed for the rest of their lives. We now have the Clontarf program and the program for the girls at the girls academies, with 900 young males and females enrolled across the Northern Territory. The vast majority of those 900 kids will complete Year 12, will transition into a job, and are less likely to be part of that appalling 72% statistic of unemployed young people who take their lives.
How do we strengthen those types of programs that actually get kids through school, and those difficult years in adolescence? For young men, by having positive male role models, mentoring them through their school, into employment, and having employers committed to taking on those young men who finish Year 12. I issue a call tonight again - I have said it before, I will say it again - for employers in the Northern Territory who want to make a difference in giving Indigenous people an opportunity, to get involved with Clontarf. Make that financial commitment - it is tax deductable - and provide work experience and a pathway into a job. I cannot think, if you are in business, of a more honourable organisation to get involved in if you want to make a difference in getting Indigenous people into work. I believe programs like Clontarf are part of the answer of that unemployment question and getting people into work.
We are going to see in Alice Springs within a couple of years, on average, 40 to 50 young boys graduate from Clontarf. I have not seen the numbers from the girl’s academy yet, but there is no reason why that will not be similar in a few years time. That is over 10 years. If we are talking 50 a year, that will be 500 young men in Alice Springs who did Year 12 who are actually employed. With kids going to school, these are the sorts of transformational programs that are taking place.
The understanding I have is that we need to - this is a big debate - particularly focus on young people between the ages of 17 and 25 in service delivery and programs. That seems to be the cohort that is falling through the cracks. As the member for Nelson said, it is interesting - in Daly River, I think you talked about – there are three different organisations, the Commonwealth government, Territory government and Red Cross, working in that mental health space in Daly River but, is any of that work joined up? That is a very important observation. We need to progress our thinking around how we can better focus and coordinate those prevention and support services, as well as responding to suicides when they occur.
I know colleagues on this side of the House will talk about how it hits everyone, particularly in a small community. If suicide does occur, what is the response in bringing the community together to find a way through the tragedy with the community? In bigger cities like Darwin, of course, it hits the immediate family and friends really hard, but life goes on and everyone can see life going on. There is not really a great deal of focus on that debate outside of the individual family concerned. In a really small place where someone commits suicide, that would just devastate that entire community for a long period of time. What is the response to the tragedy in very small places to try to assist the community to work through that issue together? Again, I do not have the answers for that. I am sure many people will talk about that during the debate tonight.
In my contribution, it is very much still for me a question of why and what more can we, as a community, do? We are going to have this debate; many people are going to speak on this tonight. As I said, my colleague and friend, the Health Minister, will make a suggestion soon of a way forward we have agreed to on this side of the House. It is an important debate this evening, because the devastation and the tragedy to family and communities, and the absolute tragic waste of a human life is a big issue in the Northern Territory.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have been in this place with the Leader of the Opposition now for 11 years. I cannot recall having had this debate, specifically like this, before. I urge honourable members to put forward their thoughts for a way forward and see if we, as a parliament, can find a way forward on this issue.
___________________
Tabled Paper
Pairing Arrangements – Members for Arafura and Drysdale
Pairing Arrangements – Members for Arafura and Drysdale
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, we have a pairing arrangement in place from 5.30 pm until 7.30 pm, between the members for Arafura and Drysdale. I table that document.
___________________
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Deputy Speaker, I commence my comments with an acknowledgement of the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and families of those who have made a decision to leave. Those who are left ask what I am sure is the daily question that never goes and never comes with an answer as to why. The other questions which eat at the heart of that person’s morale are: ‘What could I have done? Was there any sign that I missed?’ I acknowledge there are many in our community who live with that.
Going wider than that, we are aware of those who are outside of the immediate families, in our networks - whether they are directly related or a part of our network. We know those and we share that discomfort as well. The member for Nelson is quite correct in identifying it is a topic difficult to talk about. It is difficult to talk about in this parliament because we are largely confined by convention to the space around programs we could offer, when the question itself begs an inquiry and response at a much deeper level than we are accustomed to dealing with in this parliament and, sadly, in our interactions with each other. There are those we are aware of and we do not quite know what to say, how to broach the issue, so we all talk about it. Why was that so? Why did that happen?
The member for Nelson has brought this topic into the parliament for discussion, and there will be a number of talks from both sides. There may be the expectation that something would be announced or described in here that will actually effect change. If that is the case, then we are required to talk about this in a mature way and to be quite honest about the problem. I can understand the member for Nelson - once bitten, twice shy - fears something like this could easily escalate into a political discussion or debate. I do not think such a matter could occur or, even if matters were couched in such terms, we understand we are being watched over by those families who are still grieving and carry permanent grief. They require a response from us.
I do not propose we will have a solution, and I do not believe that this motion will take us anywhere other than bringing to light, in a public way, this issue and discussing it from a number of different points of view. I do not believe in gestures that create the appearance of a positive response; that is, getting us all to work together is, in fact, a response. We are, in many ways, working together one way or another, if we all put down our political weapons and come to a space in the middle and start to talk about this. We have had those discussions plenty of times. I do not have faith that will occur. Even if it did, it might give us a good feeling but it will not actually address what is a profoundly challenging problem for each of us - individually and within our own political organisations. I believe we have to cut to commentary about what we believe - what I believe. What I believe we need to be doing in a response is first understanding what I believe the problem is, in fact.
Ultimately, the question is generally answered in the sense: why did someone make that decision to go? It was because they had no hope; hope had gone. How is hope given? A person with hope hangs on and pushes through the difficulty. However, if there is no hope, the answer to the question becomes almost obvious, sadly and tragically. There is always cause for hope, but how is hope removed? Hope, in my view, is removed by the removal of a value to the person. They have no value in their community, no real purpose to their existence day after day, and that is the enemy of any sense of hope. In a community or a family you need, in order to thrive, to have a sense of value. That whole notion is extended all the way through. You have some value and, if you start to wonder whether you do or not, that begins an investigation that would take you to a very dark place. If you have value, you then have a purpose. What is your reason for getting up each day? You are contributing to something; it has some meaning.
I agree with the member for Nelson - in fact, I agree with much of what the member for Nelson said in exploring this issue - because there are some serious questions and we must hang around for, perhaps, some uncomfortable answers.
The issue of meaning is illustrated by a study that is often cited which was conducted in tragic circumstances. I understand this study was conducted in a concentration camp and I believe it illustrates what I will say after this. There was a group of prisoners who, for the sake of an experiment around the notion of meaning, hope and purpose, were given a job. The job was to smash up rocks, load them into wheelbarrows and wheel them to the next enclosure. They spent all day doing that and they had to work very hard. Once that job was completed, and they had moved them all from enclosure A to enclosure B, they then had to do the same job. Smash up those rocks again, load them onto the wheelbarrows and take them back to enclosure A. They kept being made to do this to see what effect it would have on them. They soon realised the job had no meaning other than go from A to B, B to A, A to B, B to A. The observation made on the psychology of these prisoners was they began to break down when they had endured this for weeks and months. There were suicides and cases of insanity, and people’s psyche snapped because it was a completely meaningless job with no purpose.
The tragedy is there was another group of prisoners who were involved in another exercise where they felt they were a part of something, even though it was the machinery of death in a prisoner of war camp. It was a machinery of death but they had their part in it, so they could deal with that, as obnoxious and offensive as it was. They had a part to play, so they could see they were a part of some kind of system and could deal with the moral issues of what they were actually involved in. They were a part of something that made some sense and had some meaning in their role, albeit not accepting or agreeing with the purpose. The psychology of those prisoners was markedly different from those who were involved in something that was totally meaningless.
It has been questioned a number of times whether it is actually the case or not. Sadly, I tend to believe it is, because there was much material gained through these prisoner of war camps. What it illustrates is, if there is no meaning whatsoever, it becomes a pointless exercise and something is going to give.
I believe we have the welfare system that gives no meaning or purpose, no value. You have removed, right at the foundation, the place where someone can stand with their basic value. ‘I have some value, I know what is right and wrong, effort and reward, consequence for actions’. All of that is gone. Someone who makes an effort gets the same reward as someone who makes no effort. That is useless; no wonder things collapse. If there is absolutely no real purpose to your job, it is just a made-up job. Something is lost - something fundamental is lost.
If you go to school and you are taught stuff that has no meaning, does not connect to anything in real terms, and you have a family that says: ‘We went to school and it did not produce anything, so going to school becomes an empty exercise’. You have to join the dots, it has to connect. That is why I spoke earlier on the need to connect genuinely - put some skin in the game, connect genuinely - with welfare reform, the realistic aspirations of parents to what is actually going on in the school, so there is some meaning there, and you are actually supporting the family.
My faith is more in the family and in the people than it is in the program. It seems to be that governments can easily retreat into the position that they put their faith in the program and the amount of money that is being spent in the program, so the program has power. Programs do not have power, people have power. You can either increase their power or you can decrease and diminish their power, but the program itself does not have power; people do.
Welfare - we have to go there. Economic reform and activity that is meaningful, letting people make mistakes but being there for them when they need us to give them a hand, to me, are the basics. An education system that rewards those good families who send their kids to school sends a clear message: what is right and what is wrong. There is a good reason for taking these tough stances - not to be tough on people, but to take a stand that gives some meaning to a family that is struggling.
It is very telling that the Chief Minister identified that, of the number of suicides in the Top End, there was a number of non-Indigenous. In my own electorate, sadly - I can barely talk about it. Why? When you look at the environment many are living in, in the culture of substance abuse - I have known some kids who have struggled through substance abuse – and dysfunction in the household. Watch MTV, and Rage and you see from the video clips the crap that is being pumped into them. They start walking around as though they are someone else, aping some other culture that has no connection or meaning, but they are struggling for something, and destruction is the result. We see it and it is just so difficult. When the education system, one way or another, has not been able to get that young lad to be able to read a book, yet they want something, they want some endorsement. The ones who are there to provide them with that endorsement have a culture that is toxic, dangerous and destructive.
What can we do? Well, there are basic things, as I said. We will talk about programs. A quote from George Bush was ‘the bigotry of low expectations’. This is not where it is going to get political, I just say if three point whatever billion dollars is spent on Indigenous programs, and the results are very poor, that should prompt a very powerful response, because the effect is a human cost. So, if there is a low expectation that reduces the value you place on an individual, and you place the greater value on the program, immediately the loser is the person. Therefore, if we have a low expectation of the individual, but a high expectation of the program, and the program is something to make the administrator of the program look good, we are in dangerous country.
That, sadly, has been the case for some time. Just in case members opposite instantly go into that defensive mode, I am not talking about since the Labor government came to office. I believe it is a serious cultural problem of bureaucracies where they lose connection, and do not have the courage, therefore, of confronting the effect of their decision on real people - learning to walk with and respond to real people in a real way and actually be accountable.
It has been going on for a long time. The community is crying out for something a bit different. Their people will scream, I reckon, when these hard decisions are made. However, we have to cut through the industry and turn the resource of the industry, with the money that it is being given and its human capital, on to the point of the issue, which is those who most need help. We have to provide some genuine support for those who are struggling and trying, day after day, to do the right thing, by having a consequence for those who do not do the right thing, and a reward for those who do the right thing. We have to provide welfare reforms so there is some meaning and value to effort, responsibility, and risk taking. We have to occupy that space. Good heavens! I do not want to be here in 12 years time and have another talk like this; I feel like I have spent 12 years talking about the same sort of thing. The same background theme is there all the time.
Perhaps on a brighter note, in conclusion, what can we do? One thing we can do - and I know the member for Nelson does this. I know it with the local football club. I have taken a lot of interest in the young people in Palmerston over the 20-odd years there. I am still in touch with them. Fortunately, to me, it is one of the greatest blessings that they are still in touch with me; they talk to me. Kids I have known for a very long time call into my office. I know their stories, their families, the troubles they have had, and the sadness behind the scenes. One thing I have noticed over time - particularly these ones I have a real soft spot for, trying to get them on the right track – is when the football season was on and they were a part of the football club culture, they had strong men around them, and felt they belonged to something, and they did not get into any trouble. They were turning up to training, they were not going out late at night generally, but they certainly were not doing things they should not be doing.
Basically, the crimes statistics around the football season, with those ones I had a watching brief on, were not appearing on those registers. I saw they were a part of something, they felt valued, and they felt accountable and responsible. Therefore, I put the call out for any member - I know you lead by example - one thing we can do is if you have your local club, it is good to be a patron of a club. Sadly, my time is so busy these days, but I want to - if I could spend time - just run in the water or be there with those young lads or the girls academy I saw at Rosebery the other day.
Anyone can do that. If anyone is listening to this, if you have the opportunity to be a volunteer with one of our organisations, do so, because that is something you can do; that is, putting skin in the game. That is the sort of thing we need. Hopefully, we do not talk about programs because we have no end of programs - programs coming out our ears. What we need is skin in the game and to make that connection and hang around when that difficult question is asked: ‘Why did they make that decision? What could I have done? What must we do now?’ One thing we must do now is to step across that line and recognise there is no turning back; we have to get involved.
Thank you, member for Nelson, for raising this. I cannot see the end of this being that we will all work together to consider solutions. I believe we really have to have some action. There will be some challenging comments, and those comments will have to be given life by the decisions that are made by a government in turning its faith from programs to people and making sure the decisions you make effect change in real and measureable terms around the value of a person. Grant them purpose by dealing with the clear problems, which are welfare, an education system that connects to real work and meaning, and the law and order …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, your time has expired.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Deputy Speaker, I respond to the very sad issue the member for Nelson has raised today: the tragedy of suicide in our community and, in particular, the alarming number of youth suicides. Suicide touches us all no matter who we are or where we come from. The heartache of those left behind, and the devastating impact extending far beyond the immediate family members into our schools, workplaces, and communities is something we all share.
We know that suicide is an issue of real concern in the Northern Territory. The most recent figures released by the ABS indicate that in the five-year period from 2004 to 2008, the Northern Territory suicide rate was 22 per 100 000 compared to the average national of 9.8. This rate is the highest of all jurisdictions. I wish to examine where suicide is occurring in our community, as this will help us develop strategies to reduce and prevent more suicides.
Suicide affects all Territorians in every single population group and every single part of the Northern Territory. We know some groups are more at risk than others. The Northern Territory Coroner reports there have been 232 deaths by suicide from 2005 to 2010, with over 80% of these men - 193 men and 39 women. The highest rate of suicide currently in the Northern Territory is for Indigenous and non-Indigenous males living in and around Darwin and young Indigenous males living in remote communities.
In fact, it appears these deaths are occurring equally in Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations - 121 Indigenous and 111 non-Indigenous. Given the Indigenous population is around 30% of the Northern Territory population, we realise this issue is taking a heavy toll on our Indigenous community.
The majority of the suicides - 78% - occur in the Top End. The age distribution shows that it is mainly young people who are most affected; 32% of the deaths occur in people under 24 years of age. Slightly less, 27%, occur in the age 25 to 34 years age group, 20% to 35 to 44 years age group, 12% to 45 to 54 years, and 4% in 54 to 64 years and over. The majority of these deaths occur in the bracket between 25 and 64 years. The cause can be stress, work, family breakdown, marriage breakdown - many factors. It is not one single factor, but there are many factors.
We know that men are strong, we can cope with everything, and rarely do we go and seek help. That indicates well the number of suicides in the male population and why there are so many. For some Aboriginal communities, suicide and the threat of suicide has become such a worrying issue that the associated fears and stresses impact on the whole community.
Recently, some of our communities experienced the devastating loss of some very young people. This has been a terrible tragedy for families, community members, and workers who had been involved in these deaths.
Although we cannot be certain a person’s death is from suicide until a Coronial investigation has confirmed that as a cause of death, we are aware there has been an increase in the number of deaths of young people where suicide is suspected over the past 18 months. Attempted suicides and deliberate self-harm are also very serious problems, particularly for our young people. While there are difficulties with recording and interpreting these types of incidents, we know from the informal reports that more of these incidents are happening. These are tragic and sobering facts. The Northern Territory government is fully committed to doing what it can to prevent suicide.
When a person takes their own life, the devastating impact of such an event can sometimes mean we seek simple solutions and an explanation in an attempt to make some sense out of this individual tragedy. Yet, this terrible conclusion is often the result of a complex flow of factors. These can include issues such as depression, other mental health problems, drug and alcohol misuse, inadequate education, lack of meaningful or any employment, cultural or sexual identity issues, poverty, sexual and physical abuse, and problems with family and the law. Factors such as grief, loss and trauma experienced by many Aboriginal people in communities over many years can also have a significant impact on an individual’s vulnerability.
There is no single route to a reduction in our suicide rate. Every suicide is different, and there can be no single approach to prevention. Instead, it requires the involvement and cooperation of the entire community to work together to build resilience, resourcefulness, tolerance and compassion in communities, and in people of all ages, to promote life options for those at risk of suicide.
It is important to remember that few people want their life to end; rather, they want the pain and difficulties they experience to stop. In some cases, suicide is actually a call for help. Some people do not intend to commit suicide; it just happens at the very end.
Effective suicide prevention needs to combine a range of strategies and approaches targeting the whole population, specific groups, and individuals at risk. This means a whole-of-government and community approach is needed to respond to this tragedy. It means the cornerstone of suicide prevention lies in corporate partnership approaches between government and non-government organisations and the broader community. I say here that ‘the government’ does not mean only the territory or state governments; it means state and territory and Commonwealth governments, because we are all involved in this issue.
We know this approach can be successful. We have seen it on the Tiwi Islands when we had a spike of suicides from 1990 to 2002. We developed a number of interventions with the community. The Tiwi for Life mental health team was established in 2002 with a clinical psychologist providing an intensive visiting service from Darwin, and four community-based Tiwi mental health workers. The team led engagement with the elders to devise ways to tackle the problem, focusing on social and emotional wellbeing.
A key intervention was the Strong Women and Strong Men meetings. Nearly 25% of the Tiwi population attended one of these workshops over a 12-month period 2002-03. The community addressed practical matters such as the access to alcohol, for example, with a limit on service in social clubs and providing mid-strength rather than full-strength beer.
Physical barriers were placed on structures such as power poles to impede the ways people were attempting suicide. The team was very active in educating and supporting the community on alternate ways to deal with their stresses and problems. The spike in Tiwi suicides and attempts was arrested over a short period of time and there was a comparative reduction in suicides in 2003. We have maintained the Tiwi mental health workers team with a reduced service from the clinical psychologist.
This government has been committed to reducing suicides. In 2007, we introduced the Northern Territory Strategic Framework for Suicide Prevention. In 2009, we implemented the cross-government three-year action plan. This enabled strategies to promote community resilience and prevent suicides to be imbedded in the core business of the agencies including Health, Children and Families, Education, Police, Justice, Arts and Sports and others. Over the first 18 months of the action plan, $350 000 was allocated to progress a range of new initiatives with a further $200 000 in 2010-11. Initiatives funded under the action plan included expansion of the applied suicide intervention skills training, called ASIST. We have also been trialling a shorter version of this program with young people from the age of 15 in the Alice Springs area.
We recognise that programs such as ASIST are not always culturally appropriate for use with Indigenous people. Increased funding was also allocated to complete and trial Suicide Story, an innovative suicide prevention program developed by the Mental Health Association of Central Australia in collaboration with local communities. This program aims to develop an improved understanding of the issues of suicide in the local context, improve skills to work with people at risk, and provide a sense of hope for these communities which have undertaken to participate in the process.
Suicide Story has now been delivered in a number of Central Australian remote communities, and the live promotion team is currently developing a train the trainer program so it can be expanded and made available to these communities which are currently experiencing suicidal and self-harming behaviour.
Other initiatives funded under the action plan have included the provision of training workshops in all major centres of the Northern Territory and some remote regions to address non-fatal self-harming behaviour amongst young people. We have also been working closely with our colleagues in the Commonwealth to ensure suicide prevention strategies they fund are appropriately targeted and fit with our local context. We will continue the collaboration through the COAG health agreement and mental health reform, and will ensure the Northern Territory also receives its fair share of Commonwealth funding in this area.
In Budget 2011-12, this government announced a further increase in funding for suicide prevention initiatives, with a particular focus on our young people. Whilst we are committed to trying to prevent suicide across every age group, we know that all communities invest many of their hopes and dreams in their young people. When a young person suicides, it is not only devastating for the family and friends, it has a big impact on their community. An additional $600 000 has been allocated this financial year for suicide prevention, increasing to $800 000 in 2012-13, and $1m recurrent from 2013-14.
New initiatives funded will include training for frontline workers, increased education in schools, targeted intervention for young people at risk, and improved data collection and research. An important focus will be identifying why some community populations are at greater risk than others, and what things we can put in place to better protect vulnerable individuals in communities.
There is currently debate about how much we should talk about suicide. Conventional wisdom has been that the circumstances of individual suicides should not be published and, particularly, not sensationalised. You can imagine these details could traumatise the family and friends, including children. There is also the issue I mentioned earlier; that you cannot presume a death is actually suicide prior to the coronial investigation. However, it is important for us to talk about the scale of problem we have with suicide in our community, and I welcome the debate today.
I assure you we will continue to work with communities and experts in the field to see what would best help when there is an increase in suicidal and self-harming behaviour, and what will help families and communities when they are bereaved by the suicide of a loved one.
In addition to the funding I outlined for suicide prevention, the government also announced additional funding in Budget 2011-12 to expand child and adolescent mental health services in the Northern Territory. We will provide $1m in 2011-12, increasing to $2.12m in 2012-13 and $2.2m recurrent from 2013-14. This money will be spent to provide special assessment and treatment for young people with severe mental illness, and increase support to GPs, health centres, and schools, to better support young people with mental health problems.
Our government is committed to reducing suicide wherever possible. I know you will support all efforts we make to address the tragedy. Importantly, we will be working with our young people to do whatever we can to instil a sense of hope for the future, and give them the opportunities to achieve their goals and dreams. They are our leaders of tomorrow and our most precious resources.
Like many in this House, as a father, I cannot imagine anything worse than a suicide of one of our children, because it is not only the loss of a loved one, it is the questions that remain after their death: ‘What have I done wrong? What could I have done better? Why did I not realise that person was thinking like that? Was there anything else I could do?’ The impact on your personal life, on your marriage, on the children, the siblings, would be enormous.
I mentioned many millions of dollars allocated for suicide, but that is after we have had the event, after this happened. We have to start looking at how we are going to prevent suicide. I find it fascinating, when I grew up in society where suicide is a cardinal sin. Suicide is condemned by the church, suicide is frowned on by the people, but it does happen for many reasons.
I recall in the 50 years of my life, the only suicide I experienced was one year I visited my village - a small village in northern Greece - and someone committed suicide because he was very old, very sick, and very lonely. Even then, the community did not take it very kindly. In fact, if you commit suicide, under our religious instruction, you cannot be buried in consecrated ground; you have to be buried outside the cemetery. That is a further condemnation by the church and the community.
If you look around at our world today, you find suicide is very high in developed societies, while very low in societies that struggle to survive, to learn, to find work, and in everyday activities. We might have to think differently. Instead of allocating all this money to treat the aftereffects of suicide, we should spend money to give people opportunities to live a full life; have meaning in their lives and provide them employment. I found it fascinating when I was growing up in Greece and was part of the young student movement which demonstrated in the streets of Athens for the right to work. I find it absurd here that people actually argue about their right to welfare. It is a stupid idea and should be reversed.
I believe the Territory and Australia has many opportunities for every single citizen born here, either Indigenous or non-Indigenous. With 1.3 million square kilometres, do not tell me there are no opportunities for development, either in the pastoral industry, agricultural industry, mining industry, or any other industry, for 30% of the population which lives outside the urban communities. The only thing that stops it is the stupid mentality of people in Canberra who think they know everything. I have seen that many times in the past 50 years, in both political persuasions - not one side or the other, both political persuasions. It might be the mentality that was brought back from the old country, the typical Anglo-Saxon system where we have to protect everyone. It might be a sense of guilt that we took the land away from Indigenous people, and, somehow, we have to compensate. The way they compensate is to throw money - throw money and that will solve the problems. It does not; it creates more problems.
What will solve the problem is to give some meaningful life to these people. Make these young people want to wake up next morning to do something with their life. Make these young people say: ‘I can be something in my life’, not wake up in the morning, look around and think, ‘Why should I go to school today? My mum and dad did not go to school, they are still here, they do not have a job, they get unemployment benefits. Why should I get out of bed today, there is nothing to do out there, nothing to aspire to go out to do?’ We have to start changing their way of thinking.
I commend the member for Nelson for his motion which said:
The Northern Territory parliament notes:
(a) the alarming number of youth suicides in the Northern Territory, and
Madam Speaker, I move that the motion be amended by inserting another paragraph as follows:
- (c) this issue be referred to a Select Committee of the Assembly set up below:
(a) proposals to access Commonwealth funding programs including the National Partnership Agreement on Mental Health targeting suicide prevention, intervention and youth mental health, with a particular emphasis on youth between 17 to 25 years of age;
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for bringing this motion before the House, as the issue of youth suicide is a very serious issue as is, indeed, suicide by anyone of any age.
It needs to be talked about, as the number of suicides in the Northern Territory is alarming and something has to be done. In researching for this speech, I looked at many Australian and some overseas websites. It did not matter which site I accessed, the startling fact every time was that the Northern Territory is miles ahead of anywhere else in the world in suicide levels. That, in itself, is not only cause for alarm, but incredibly sad and tragic.
In the Australian Bureau of Statistics data, it states very clearly that the Northern Territory has the highest rate of suicide, and one of the highest rates of suicide in the Indigenous population, contributing to the high rate of suicide in our jurisdiction.
Suicide and attempted suicide affects not only the individual committing the act, but friends, relatives, colleagues, family members, and children. Therefore, statistically, almost everyone in Australia and the Northern Territory is going to be, or has been, affected by thoughts of suicide, attempted suicide, or death from suicide. Currently, there are around 2000 deaths per year from suicide in Australia. It is estimated that more young people die from suicide than from car accidents. Also, 80% of deaths from suicide occur in males and 80% of all suicide attempts occur in females. It affects females and males directly, and both equally share and feel the pain, with their families.
In many parts of the western world, suicide rates increased rapidly until the late 1990s, and have slowly been falling for almost 10 years. Many researchers believe that better diagnosis and treatment of depression and mental illness has caused this fall in suicide rates. This fall was matched by the use of medications, as I have read in research papers. However, the lower use of antidepressants in young people in the past few years has similarly been correlated with the risk in suicide rates, and this needs to be addressed.
Research suggests that about 5% of the population will have thoughts about being dead in any 12-month period. Such vague fleeting ideas are probably not of concern as our brains consider many options when faced with problems. However, seeing death as an attractive option, wishing that one was dead, or envying people who have died are not normal thoughts and usually suggest depression or some other illness which will benefit from treatment and assistance. Thoughts of how to end one’s life and making preparations or plans to do so are very serious. I urge people to talk to someone about such thoughts and actions. From my limited knowledge, when people recover from depression they cannot believe they had thoughts of wanting to kill themselves, and often want to help others through similar tough times.
Medical research confirms the vast majority of such deaths occur in people who have depression or who have suffered from other illnesses such as schizophrenia, panic attacks, alcohol or drug problems. If these illnesses had been treated, such deaths might well have been prevented in a significant number of cases.
While suicide and all the issues surrounding the act is bad enough, for every death from suicide it is estimated that there are 10 to 30 times as many attempted suicides or episodes of deliberate self-harm. People commit deliberate self-harm in an attempt to end their lives, but also in an attempt to simply seek oblivion or to be just out of it. It must be remembered that those who have attempted suicide are much more at risk than the rest of the population of eventually repeating the act - but dying on the next attempt. This is particularly the case for males who have unsuccessfully attempted suicide. It is estimated that 5% of such males will eventually die from suicide and 2% of women who have survived deliberate self-harm will eventually die from suicide.
I turn my attention now to the rural area in the Top End as it relates to this motion, and have some suggestions and recommendations for government to help and support people in need who are not currently receiving adequate support.
In the greater rural area, there are about 7000 young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years of age. Previously, I have stated the Territory has the highest level of suicide in the country, but what is less known is the Top End rural area has had an extraordinarily high suicide rate. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2010, show that the area known as the Litchfield Shire recorded figures well ahead of East Arnhem, Barkly, and Darwin city when it comes to suicides. While the figures give me - and I am sure everyone else - great reason for concern, what has to be remembered is caution should be exercised when reporting and interpreting suicide information.
The reliability of suicide statistics is affected by a number of different factors including under-reporting due to the nature of the act, differences in reporting methods across the territories and states, and the length of time it takes for coroners to process deaths that are reported as potential suicides. Taking these factors into consideration, it could be suggested the levels of suicide or attempted suicides are, in fact, much higher than recorded. What the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows also is the Territory is going against national trends; suicide deaths comprise a much higher proportion of total deaths in younger age groups compared with older age groups, and suicide rates are significantly higher in rural areas.
I will not talk about suicide rates in really rural or remote areas, as others have and will, in this debate. However, I can talk on the rural area outside Darwin. While I have no hard data tonight that can substantially confirm that more suicides occur in rural areas, there is a strong school of thought that suicides increase with rurality. The National Rural Health Alliance states that youths - they define it as 15 to 25 years - are 1.5 to 1.8 times more likely to suicide than their urban counterparts. The very remote areas are up to six times more likely to suicide. If that statistic is translated into the many remote communities in the Northern Territory, the outlook is grim, unless there is early intervention and support services.
Identification of a serious social and health issue such as suicide is real and needs to be addressed. However, I am not comfortable with the level of services or support that is being delivered in the rural area currently, such that people in need can be helped and supported. I have worked previously with the Bush Baptist Church people, also called The Gathering. I thank Sephyr Crook and Kelvia-Lee Johnson for the work they have done in highlighting youth issues in the rural area and the work to try to get a youth station. There are services available, but they are mostly based at Palmerston and the northern suburbs with little outreach services.
In the area of mental health support services, headspace Top End, based at Palmerston, targets 14- to 25-year-olds and provides many valuable services, but does not have a base in the rural area. Top End Mental Health Services provides specialist mental health services and, while there are some services to the rural area, it does not have a base there. TEAMHealth provides a recovery assistance program on an outreach basis but does not have a base in the rural area. Top End Mental Health Consumer Organisation provides consumer support and does have some services into the rural area but, again, does not have a base there. Other mental health teams provide services; these are mostly from the Tamarind Centre and the hospitals, but no services similar to these services are based in the greater rural area.
There are private medical people in the rural area; however, these are of a general practice nature and not targeted at, or for, youths specifically. Clearly, there are services available for people to access. However, there is minimal outreach service to the rural area and there is no youth-focused health service in the areas I and the member for Nelson - and probably the member for Daly - represent.
If the rural area outside of Darwin struggles with services and support from government and NGOs, what hope is there for the young people living in rural and remote areas? Public transport to and from the rural area needs improvements, particularly over weekends as that is the time when young people want to get out and about, enjoy their friends’ company and go places.
In supported accommodation, there is the Anglicare Youth Housing program and Health Connections for Youth, which caters and provides emergency and crisis accommodation for young people 15 to 20 years of age, and helps those based in the rural area. It does not have a base in the rural area, however. There is also an extensive waiting list for these services, and rural youth are required to travel to Palmerston to initially access the services. Again, health connections such as these are overworked and under-resourced.
The Bush Baptist Church, which I mentioned previously, is a group that provides emergency accommodation, food relief, and counselling. Their resources are stretched and they operate on limited grants and funds and a small band of volunteers.
Given the number of young people in the rural area, given the lack of mental health and youth services and activities, I am very concerned the statistics I have referred to might not change, and could even spiral downwards. We need to do more and we need to do it better. Government needs to stump up and start to put some proper services into the rural area, or support those who are in the position to provide such services to young people and other people in need.
The rural area desperately needs a youth drop-in centre or a youth station that can provide much-needed services such as crisis accommodation support, mentoring programs, and activities that are undertaken in a safe and secure environment. Currently, there are minimal activities or facilities for young people. There is a skate park at Humpty Doo Village Green and a small children’s playground, but that is about it. There is no pool, no water park, no real targeted youth activities, no skate competition no bass-in-the-bush, no ice rink at Christmas time, and no music concerts. Many of these activities are provided and funded by government in other parts of the Territory. It is time the government got serious about the rural area and investigated properly what needs to be done to address serious issues such as suicide.
It is an important public health and clinical issue. The costs and upheaval to families and communities is enormous and should never be underestimated. All of us know an action of suicide does not happen in isolation, and is affected by the social, economic and cultural context. There are factors which increase the risk of suicide in almost all settings, and there are factors that are particularly applicable to rural and remote people - the isolation, the lack of support services, late intervention, poor public transport, low social networking opportunities, and boredom. Then, there are issues such as loss of jobs, grief, domestic violence which, when coupled with the former factors, potentially leads to an explosive and, at times, tragic situation. Many times, people are at their wits end. However, because of the perceived stigma associated with mental health illnesses, much goes unreported, in addition to people not reaching out or calling out for help.
I also believe what happens in the rural and remote areas of the Territory, apart from what I have highlighted previously, is the services may exist in the urban centres and could be extended to the rural area; however, the geographical constraints make it difficult, if not impossible, to respond in times of need. The availability of services outside working hours may further be reduced because of the difficulty in sustaining on-call arrangements in large and spread-out areas such as we have in many parts of the Territory.
I am aware that the Menzies School of Health Research has undertaken research into youth suicide in the Territory. The author, Professor Sven Silburn, has had extensive experience in this area in Western Australia. The Children’s Commissioner knew this and commissioned the report. I understand the report is with the Children’s Commissioner, and I urge the government not to sit on the report, but release it into the public domain so we can learn and understand more about this social and mental health issue. We cannot afford to wait, as items in the report and recommendations may just save someone’s life.
In closing, I ask the government to seriously consider, and support and encourage, the establishment of a youth station in the rural area to provide much-needed services and support, and also to release the findings of the Menzies’ report as soon as practicable. I also thank the minister for bringing forward a motion in regard to this establishment of a select or sessional committee on youth suicides - probably long overdue, but I welcome it and look forward to further information in that regard, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the member for Nelson’s motion on youth suicide. I believe there is not one member in this Chamber whose life has not been touched by this issue. There are many of us who have family or friends who are still searching for answers. I was listening to the member for Nelson when he was talking and quoted Leonore Hanssens. I am not going to quote Leonore Hanssens, but what I am going to quote is a young psychology student who did her double degree - her honours degree - on psychology on the Tiwi Islands. Her honours thesis was called the Psycho-social Ideology of Alcohol and Cannabis Use and Non-use at Nguiu. At the time she did her honours degree, it was looking at the increasing rates of youth suicide or suicide amongst the Tiwi Islands. I should declare my interest in quoting this young psychologist’s report because that young psychologist is my daughter who did her honours degree when looking at this issue on the Tiwi Islands.
The reason why she looked at the Tiwi Islands was not because of our relationship with Tiwi - that being our people – but half of the population was under the age of 25. Going back to the 1980s and up to the 1990s, the rates of suicide on the Tiwi Islands was four times the national average. I remember when I lived on the Tiwi Islands from 1988 through to 1993, to live and work in my own home community, there were no answers to why these young people were committing suicide and we were burying the young people at the rate we were. At that time, it was only amongst many of our young men, but then the problem or the issue transferred across to many of our young women on the Tiwi Islands.
All the research people who went over - and there was a big influx on the island of researchers and other people to look at this important issue. I am not having a go at people researching, because it is important. Research is important because, through that research, we can at least get some answers. I remember trying to work with the community and researchers to try to make sense of all of this. It is hard to try to make sense, let alone the devastation and the grieving that is left for families long after the researchers and everyone has gone, where people still have not found those answers. It was certainly a harrowing ordeal living on the Tiwi Islands with my people to watch this happening, unfolding every single day.
What often intrigued me, I suppose, through all of this was the driving force where I went from working with land councils and local government into the health sector. I decided to study for a health economics degree whilst a single parent bringing up three children and working full-time. I went into the health field to start looking at how we can build better health services on the ground and communities to try to get young people or families access to better primary healthcare services - not just acute services, but all of those primary healthcare services that can go towards preventing many of these issues that were occurring, not just in the Tiwi Islands.
I then went from the Tiwi Islands to Katherine and spent about eight years working in and around Katherine and those rural communities, with those communities developing and establishing quite successful primary healthcare services so people could, through community control, change the course of what was happening on the ground in their communities. I went from the Tiwi Islands, and was just being absolutely devastated and gutted. I remember, through that whole time - because you cannot live and work in a community without being affected yourself by all of this death and grieving - having suffered with depression and feeling the same thoughts. However, I was able to work myself through it.
Still to this day, there are many families on the Tiwi Islands who have asked themselves why has this happened. Too many people say it is grog; it is alcohol and drug-related. That is true, but what we do not look at is that alcohol and drugs are the contributing factor to the end point of these young people’s lives. We do not look at what has been happening prior to that young person getting to that stage.
Many of those issues became clear for me, having worked with my own son through these issues in his darkest moments, where he scraped the bottom of the barrel with drug abuse and alcohol, then suffering those very dark days of depression and trying to stop him. I was on 24/7 alert every time that child walked out the door. Where is he going? Is he going to get a rope, or is something going to happen? As a parent, it is a very scary thing. I know many people have said that our parents do not care, but I have yet to see one parent - whether they are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal - who has not cared about this. The inability to be able to control, or to try to stop that child from doing it, sometimes, is taken out of their hands.
I saw that on the Tiwi Islands, in the Katherine region and, then, when I was elected, with the communities within western Arnhem Land. I saw the suicide rates at Maningrida and, as a local member, received the phone calls. As I said, I do not think there is any member who holds a bush seat who is not affected. When those phone calls come at all hours of the night, and you are talking to those families, you can hear the people wailing in the background because someone has committed suicide. That happened to me last week. It is just absolutely devastating as a local member, representing a constituency and feeling completely helpless and knowing we have to do more. All of us acknowledge yes, there are issues and, yes, we need to do better.
I often think about my good friend, Gwen. She and I have been mates for about 30 years. Our children grew up together. We were both single mothers bringing up our children and working together. Sitting down having a cup of tea one day, her youngest son came to her house and hugged his mother and said: ‘I really love you mum. You are the best mum, and thank you for everything that you have ever done in my life’. He was quite upbeat and happy, and she was happy that her son had hugged her. He then left. I remember getting a phone call at 1 am and I could not understand what she was saying. The first thing I said to her was: ‘Are you drunk? Have you been drinking?’ I had to listen closely as she could not speak properly because she was inconsolable. She had just had a phone call from the police where he was living near Daly River.
After he had hugged his mother and said goodbye, that she was the best mum in the world, and thanked her for everything she had done, he drove back to Daly River and went into his house and blew his brains out. That was 22 years ago, and there is not a day when my friend does not remember that day. Every time she hears of a suicide, it comes back and it affects her. She lives with that, I live with that, because I went through all of that, and I suppose it affected me just as much. I cannot imagine how she felt.
As a mother, I know that preventing my son from going down that road and that journey - and thank God we were able to steer him out of that. However, there are many parents who do not get that opportunity to do that. You watch and feel their grief because you cannot help, but when you see these families you cannot help but feel that grief. I feel that grief every time I have discussions with my friend. There is not a day when we do not have a discussion and she brings up her son - and that was 22 years ago. They say time heals all wounds. I do not think it heals. It just allows us to become less and less upset with it. The child a parent loses can never be replaced. I know it is hard for a child who has lost a parent. I would hate to be a parent who loses a child. It is incomprehensible in being able to articulate what that grief would be.
This issue should be - as I have said with child protection many times in the past - above politics. I agree totally with all the speakers who have spoken; we should not play politics with it. Those families I say are the survivors of all that - but are they surviving? They still need answers. It is imperative on us, as parliamentarians, as people elected to this parliament, to show that leadership. Politics cheapens the importance of what this issue is about. We need to show that leadership and to look at what some of those potential answers could be.
Much of it, I believe, is funding. I know the Chief Minister will raise that at COAG, because I believe it is important the Northern Territory gets its fair share, if not more, of the Commonwealth funding that has been earmarked for this project because of the nature of the Territory. When you look at our rates, which are four times the national average - and probably pretty much on the ball being four times the national average - it is concerning that the rates are high. I was listening to the Chief Minister’s speech when he was giving the comparisons between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and it is scary. It is confronting that it is not just an Aboriginal issue; it is across all races.
None of us have the high moral ground or moral ownership of this. All of our youth in the Territory, regardless of colour, creed, or religion, need us to be able to unite and look at this issue in a bipartisan way. We have had committees; we can deal with issues in a bipartisan way. We have shown that about child protection in the past because it is important to put certain issues above politics. The rates of youth suicide, or what is happening with our youth, needs to be beyond politics. We need to come together to look at this most important issue and not use it as an exercise to finger point at either government - the Northern Territory or the Commonwealth - but to come up with something of substance.
When we think of all those families who are suffering or who have been affected by youth suicide, we need to look beyond our own egos and the cheap politics that we might get out of this, and remember those families and young people who need us to move beyond the petty politics. For once, let us come forward with something of substance so we can prevent these rates from increasing any more than they have.
I look forward to looking at this issue. I have talked about this at different times and I know that most of my colleagues on this side have talked about this issue. It is an issue that impacts on all of us. The member for Macdonnell has raised this issue, as well as the member for Nelson and another member on the Country Liberal Party side. Let us all get together; let us work towards trying to make the Northern Territory a better place for our young people.
We need to look at the major issue of coping because this is where our young men and some of the young women find it very hard. The coping skills that are required in relationships are often not there. Some of that is attributed to family breakdowns, as we know, but we need to strengthen those families so those young people can build that resilience many of our young people have. This is not just about Aboriginal kids; it is also about non-Aboriginal kids; it is about all of our children and our young people in the Northern Territory.
Before I finish, I acknowledge the young Chair of the Youth Round Table. I was saying to the Minister for Young Territorians how heartened I was when I went to the Youth Round Table on Saturday. I thank you and your members. I told the minister, in all the years I have been in this parliament, and every Youth Round Table meeting I have attended, I have encountered the level of intellect, debate and discussion and wisdom that happens amongst our young people there. I thank all of those young people and thank you as the chair, for that discussion we had on Saturday.
The important project the Youth Round Table is embarking on is looking at youth suicide in the Northern Territory, which is an important thing to do. I thank all of those members of the Youth Round Table for the discussion and sharing their thoughts ...
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I thank the Chief Minister for that extension of time. I am just about finished.
When the member for Nelson first flagged this motion wanting to talk about this, I am like many families in the Northern Territory - you do not want to talk about this issue. It is a harrowing issue to talk about. It is easy to get quite teary and feel that raw emotion about that loss. However, it is better to turn that emotion into action and to actually do something. When we look at all of those deaths that have happened in the Northern Territory, we can prevent them. We can look at how we can get the systems responding better than they are.
I know, just from my own daughter’s experience - and many psychologists like her who are working in this field are caring - there is not a day I do not look at the burden she carries on her shoulders. She is one of three Aboriginal conditional psychologists in the Northern Territory, and the only one in the Top End who has to look after most of the remote communities, as well as Katherine and Batchelor, and some of our regions. It is a massive job, but it is a job she thoroughly loves, otherwise she would not be in it. Why would you want to be in it? I often say to her that what she carries is worse than I carry, and she is my hero. I admire the struggles and the energy she has working with many of the families and people she does, and to remain as optimistic as she does in all of this. I suppose, if you work in that field, the one thing you have to maintain is that optimism that when you are working with people you can make them better. If you can get a good outcome and prevent people from sliding further and further down the scale, that is a good thing.
Madam Speaker, I support the member for Nelson’s motion. It is an important motion. It would be fantastic to get support from the CLP for the Health Minister’s amendment to that motion, because there are members of the CLP who are just as concerned about this issue. We need to come together as a parliament to look at this, because this is about our future - and our youth are our future. We should come together and work together to try to get the best outcomes for those youths. It is memory of the ones who have gone that makes it imperative for us to be able to get the outcomes for their families, and to try to get a better system for future families.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I support the motion brought to this House by the member for Nelson, and congratulate, and say thank you to the government and to the Minister for Health for putting the amendment to the member for Nelson’s motion, because it is a serious issue. I believe we have the ability in this House, as elected members, not to bring politics into it, but to work as parents, as aunties, as uncles, and grandparents, to help the next generation of children, both black and white, not be successful in doing the things our past children have done.
While the member for Arafura was talking, the member for Nelson brought to my attention, if you have a look at the figures on both sides, it is nearly equal between non-Indigenous and Indigenous where this is happening. In the past, you would not have seen the statistics so high amongst Indigenous people, so something is going terribly wrong. That data and that journey show us that something is very wrong in our remote Aboriginal communities and within our Indigenous society in towns like Darwin, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
Maybe some of the areas that we can have a look at - and I know that the minister for Education is keen to have a look at things like that - is do some assessment through the education system. We know the children who are struggling in the schools. We know which children come from broken homes, children who have behavioural problems, children who have been adopted by the community members, who might not have parents or might have parents who are living elsewhere, abusing alcohol or drugs. I believe that is where we can start to see the journey and track these children through the education system to ensure they do not get to the end result of what we have seen happen and we are talking about today.
I totally agree with what the member for Arafura has said; it is not about sensationalising anything, and the media needs to be very aware of this as well. This is a very sensitive issue; we are not talking about live cattle. We are talking about our children - whether it be our nephews, nieces, great nephews and nieces, sons, or whatever. It does have a lasting impact, not just on the immediate family, but on the whole community. If you are living on a small outstation, that whole outstation is impacted by something as tragic as this.
We are seeing our young kids doing this, and they are brave. Some of the issues I will highlight are within the Indigenous population. My nephew committed suicide three weeks ago. I received a call while I was here in parliament from my young sister, who is now being blamed by my other sister, the mother of the child, because she was there when it happened. Both these adults need counselling. My sister who lost a child needs to understand, from a professional point of view, the other young sister did not have anything to do with it - she just came out and saw it - so you do not have the animosity in that family being carried on forever and ever when there is such a tragedy in the family.
You see it all the time - with the two losses I have had. That is why I go to the issue of tracking their families. Both of them come from parents who both drink, or have one but not the other drinking. These kids are feeling hopeless and they want to be loved, so they create friendships with anyone because that friendship determines where they sleep and who gives them food that night, and who they can walk around with at night. They are all the issues we need to embrace and try to investigate, and get the right material to educate all our people and communities.
It is a serious issue to see. The minister said it is equal number recorded, but Aboriginal people have come further. We have not seen this happening in Aboriginal people before. It is now equal to the non-Indigenous population of the Northern Territory. That has to be a huge concern to us, as Territorians.
We have heard members from both sides of the House in this parliament tonight talk about their personal issues and asking each other to come together as elected members, as concerned politicians, as politicians driving the Northern Territory to be a positive place rather than a negative place through suicides and antisocial behaviour through alcoholism and drugs. I was upstairs listening to the contribution made by the Chief Minister. This is a call for us to unite as a parliament and drive this agenda. The Chief Minister will be going to talk to the Prime Minister to ask if we can get an extra boost in financial assistance to the Northern Territory to address this issue because this is a real concern.
We are talking about young kids; we are talking about our families. There has to be something terribly wrong in these children’s lives. It is a fact that probably low schooling, not really educated to hold a job, mums and dads drinking, mums and dads not at home contributing, so they just live around the houses with other people.
Footy is one way, and we have seen that with Clontarf. One of the other things the Minister for Central Australia might talk to the Chief Minister about is we have Clontarf extended to some of the communities so it can pick up some of our kids in remote Aboriginal communities and put them through that program so we can see these kids developing into good Territorians - kids who contribute to society, who love themselves, who are loved by their parents, and who are loved by their communities. It is about nurturing, and this nurturing has to come from all of us. We might not be the aunties, uncles, and mums, but we need to tell children always that we love them so they can grow into being healthy, educated, working Territorians, contributing to society rather than being at the bottom of the socioeconomic indicator, always struggling in life to do anything, and looking around to see where they get their next feed from, and who would give them a lift from community to town. That is all the reassurances we could give them.
Madam Speaker, we have seen acceptance and support for this motion in this House this evening, and I thank the member for Nelson for bringing this motion to the House.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support the motion introduced by the member for Nelson, and also support the amendment moved by the Minister for Health.
I agree with the member for Arafura in that this is not something anyone should try to make political points on. It should be an absolutely apolitical matter. It is a matter of great concern to all of us in this House and the entire community. I echo a couple of words the Chief Minister said and the fact he was not aware that 72% of people who suicide are unemployed. Also, a comment made by the member for Nelson, that the number of people who suicide is 40% greater than the road toll. That is alarming when you look at the advertising campaigns for road safety, the first aid courses they encourage people to go to so you can save lives on the side of the road – or anywhere, not necessarily in road accidents.
As a community, it behoves us to do everything we can to ensure that all people - not just young people or Aboriginal people, other nationalities, or regardless of where you come from – are able to access services and get help when they need it.
The problem is, quite often, the community can provide assistance; however, people get themselves into such a position where they do not realise they need assistance. I am sure there are people in this room who can relate to that. When you get yourself into a situation and a very good friend or a professional comes along and says you probably might need a hand to do something - and it is not just in relation to emotional things, it is physical things as well.
I have attended far too many accidents brought on by people driving cars into walls, trees and other objects in my former life as a police officer. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with suicides - the hangings, the gassings and the firearm suicides. It brings home very vividly the horror, tragedy, and trauma suicide brings, not only to those who have to deal with it, but more so to the families and those left behind who have to deal with the emotional wreckage that is put upon families when these things occur.
Suicide is something many people do not want to talk about. As the member for Arafura quite rightly pointed out, in all parts of our society not many people actually want to talk about suicide. That is probably the very reason why we should.
What about seniors? I have seen some figures recently - I cannot recall them – of the number of seniors over 75 who commit suicide each week. Where is the counselling for them? There are other issues that older people face that younger people do not. It is bad enough we have older people who have lived perhaps the greater portion of their life suiciding, but we have young people who are just beginning their journey who find life so difficult and find themselves in situations where they believe the only way out is to take their own life.
Many of these problems they have revolve around relationships, and not just with the opposite sex but relationships with all people in the community - their parents, the person at the shops, their peers at school, peers in the workplace, and people generally in the community. If they do not have good relationships and they are feeling down, we need, as a community, to provide services to these people.
I know the government has tried and the previous CLP government has tried. Everyone tries in this because there is a genuine desire on all sides of politics, including the Independents, that this is an issue which should be at the forefront of our minds. It takes so many lives and, as we quite often say: ‘What a waste of a good life!’ We should be out there doing everything we can to ensure that services are there for a whole range of people. People ask: ‘Why?’, and this is something that the member for Arafura also said. People often ask: ‘Why?’ When you go to funerals, when you go to investigate these things, people will simply ask: ‘Why?’ They are truly perplexed as to what happened.
I will use an example that is pretty close to home. Unfortunately, a number of years ago, I lost a brother-in-law. I went to his funeral and everyone was standing around saying: ‘How did this happen? Why did this happen?’ When you dug deeper and you asked people when you spoke to them: ‘Did you notice anything?’ This is when it really hit home for me. There were probably about 10 or 15 people I spoke to at my brother-in-law’s funeral, and they all told similar stories: ‘I noticed something unusual; just a small thing’. They said it was so strange it was slightly out of character. When you stand around in a circle and these people are all telling their little stories that were unusual, by the time you get to the 10th person and you still have five to go, the alarm bells are ringing in that circle with all the people. Suddenly, there is a collective realisation that all those things added up to the fact that a man was in trouble, but no one identified it.
When we investigated further, we found out that no one wanted to talk about it, no one has talked about it in their upbringing, parents did not really want to talk about, and the blokes down the pub do not want to talk about it. I do know that women talk about it a lot in their groups. However, when you are in mixed company, no one seems to want to talk about it. That has been changing over recent years, and it is probably time - it is well overdue - we actually do that.
The same words come to mind that I mentioned earlier today in this House; that is, early intervention. One thing my mother taught me was that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I know they translate to kilograms these days, but that is what my mother used to say to me. I have never forgotten it. The other old adage that worked is a stitch in time saves nine. If you get in early and you fix these things, you do not have the problem at the end of it. Unfortunately, in some cases, it is a tragic problem.
The early intervention programs are essential for the government to implement and for oppositions to support wholeheartedly. There are a number of early intervention programs out there, and I have been fortunate enough to do a couple of them. One such program is the suicide first aid program. In my wallet, I carry a little card. Every time I forget about things, or I am sitting somewhere waiting for an appointment, and am going through my wallet trying to look for something, I pull this bit of paper out and read it. It enlightens me to the fact that I should be aware of those around me and look for the signs. If we are all educated in what to look for - and that is what suicide first aid is about: being able to identify all those little things that separately do not mean much but, collectively, ring alarm bells to say that someone is in trouble.
I have dealt with many people who have been suicidal and, with some of them, you would never pick it. With some of them, it is difficult to understand where they are at. Some people are quiet, some people are noisy, some people are seeking attention and, in that attention is a massive cry for help. However, there are those who we do not know and are not calling out for help. Sometimes, they are the most troubled and the most difficult to pick. If a community is unaware and uneducated as to what to look for, then we will continue to struggle to save the lives of, especially young people, but middle-aged people, other people, people on the land, farmers.
What we do not see in the paper is the number of suicides that occur. It is the policy of most newspapers that I am aware of, that they do not advertise each week how many people have committed suicide. They do not make great stories out of it because it is not something they want to sensationalise. They do not want copy cats and there is a whole range of reasons why they do not. However, it is just the decency of not allowing people to get too depressed about what is happening to other people. What they do is encourage people to seek help in these matters.
We cannot escape the fact that there are way too many suicides. We cannot get away from the fact that Aboriginal youth, especially Aboriginal males, are over-represented in this statistic. The Chief Minister quoted 232 suicides in five years – obviously, 232 too many. How do we get that figure down and what, as a community, do we do to come together, to work together, to reduce that number? One would hope that we can reduce it to zero, and that should be our target. I fear, though, that we cannot have a perfect result and we might not get to anywhere near that. We can, if we educate people to understand what the symptoms are, what to look for, and continue to educate our people as we go through.
We talk about all the issues in our community of health, education, law and order. They are the three pillars of community. We spend much time and effort as parents, as a community, as governments and oppositions, working towards improving the lot for those who we seek to represent well. However, there comes a time when, if someone suicides, all of that effort counts for nothing, because that poor person does not have the ability to enjoy what we claim is the great lifestyle, not only in the Territory, but in Australia. To get in that position and that sort of feeling is a tragedy, so we should work hard.
How do we do that? I acknowledge that the Northern Territory government is doing things in schools. There is a program called Mind Matters, there are wellbeing officers in the workplace. It is such an important issue we should not neglect it. I feel sure the member for Nelson, in moving this motion, and I quote part (a) of his motion: ‘the alarming number of youth suicides in the Northern Territory’. We are concentrating on youth suicide here, but that is not to forget our seniors and others in our community.
Schools, for instance, is where the youth group we are looking at predominantly in the amendment are - 17 to 25 years. I would like to see any committee look at the situation of middle schools. We lose far too many kids in middle schools. There are young people in Years 11 and 12 who commit suicide. Tragic! How do they get there? Probably a lack of understanding of what is available to them, and of those in their peer groups, teachers, other professionals, who would benefit from further and ongoing training in suicide first aid. I recall, as a school-based police officer, spending many a time working through some of these issues with youth in schools to the point where they sought help. We got them some professional help. The early intervention that I talk about is about teachers being aware. It is about school nurses, support staff, specialised staff in the school, and especially school-based police officers.
Some of the issues I spoke about earlier today were about making young people feel comfortable, keeping anxiety levels down and making schools and their environment a good place to be. We have heard people in this House speak about some of the horrific circumstances young people find themselves in, in their homes, in their communities, and that is tragic. However, when it leads to one of those people taking their life, that is even more tragic. We have to try to insulate those people from the area where they get themselves to where they can justify taking their own life. How do we do that? Again, we strengthen programs in schools where people can identify those things. I go back to school-based police officers, who can identify some of these people who are suffering at the hands of the bullies - the people who intimidate them not only physically, but mentally with cyber bullying, the peer pressure that is put on them - and actually stand up for some of these young people’s rights and give them the confidence to stand up against those people so they do not go to those dark places where the thoughts of suicide have their seeds. We have to work hard on that and strengthen those programs, not weaken them or take them away.
We talk about the causes of suicide. In many instances, it is a fear, rejection, or depression caused by high anxiety levels. When people get to that point, it is one of the drivers that sends people into alcohol and other drugs. Quite often, the first thing is the smoking, then it is into alcohol, then it is a quick step into marijuana, and then you are on your way. Not everyone goes onto the hard drugs, or some of the drugs that do rapid harm. However, we are all aware of some of the horrific consequences from long-term drug abuse of any drug. Anything we can do in schools to teach young people about drug abuse and give them the strength and confidence to say ‘no’, to get out there into the wide world and be able to survive knowing there are people on their side, is good.
The other aspect is seniors. We also need to have programs within the community to assist our seniors to get through some of those challenging issues that come with ageing years. We go back to the fact that the question that is asked is: ‘How did this happen?’, and no one wants to talk about it. I am grateful for people in this House who stood up and related stories about what is going on in their own communities. I am grateful there appears to be support for this on both sides of this House.
Madam Speaker, I commend the government for supporting the motion and supporting the amendment. I agree, and I believe most people on this side of the House will support the motion. I commend the motion to the House.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for bringing forward this important issue for the Northern Territory. Youth suicide is an issue that, for far too long, has not been given the attention it needed.
I also join the Leader of the Opposition in acknowledging the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who have lost a loved one to suicide. It is a tragic and terrible thing for families to go through. As members have all said in their contributions, the question ‘why? is asked by family members in the years after they lost that loved one. I acknowledge the hurt and the pain those families go through on a daily basis.
As a Territorian, a local with a large extended family throughout the Territory, it is an issue I, like many other members, have had to deal with personally. It is very difficult to lose someone so close; be it a niece or a nephew. With a large extended family in the bush, unfortunately, this seems to be a regular occurrence - the sorry business we have to go through after losing a loved one to suicide.
Few of us in this House contemplated when we decided to run for public office that we would be talking to a motion dealing with the terrible issue of suicide. In my five years in parliament, this is an issue that has not been given the attention or come before the House and members in the way of a motion we have before us tonight.
Many members have quoted numerous statistics and they are all alarming. It clearly demonstrates there has been a great crisis in suicide deaths in our community, particularly over the last eight or nine years, but preceding that. The statistics can be bandied around, but the important thing is what we have before us with the motion in showing leadership. As a local member over the last five years, I had many approaches by constituents in Alice Springs and from remote communities in my electorate office wanting help to deal with either preventing a loved one heading down that track of committing suicide or having to deal with a loss after it has happened.
The causes are numerous. Members through this debate have brought to the House many possible causes of why this may happen. We heard things such as alcohol and drugs, mental health issues, remoteness, unemployment, poverty, welfarism - the list goes on. The important thing the House needs to focus on now is the motion before us, particularly the amendment by the minister. We need to act fairly quickly on that in a select committee of the Assembly. Given the urgency, given the silent crisis that has been going on in the Northern Territory, it has to be treated as a matter of urgency.
I have talked to quite a few constituents over the last five years having to deal with this issue of suicide. I have been talking to the Children’s Commissioner, Dr Howard Bath, and looking at the annual report 2009-10 of the NT Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee, and I am aware of the study that Menzies has done looking at the trends and what research has been undertaken. I believe this report, this study, is going to be a critical tool for the committee in putting forward some recommendations urgently to this parliament. The report and the study will come back to all of us with the key intervention options and recommendations. In talking to the Children’s Commissioner, he is thankful, I suppose, that this has been brought to the attention of parliament and is also looking for some leadership from us in considering solutions.
As a local member, I have been working on a couple of projects which I acknowledge, which are getting us on to the right track in helping some of these solutions come forward. I particularly acknowledge Ian McAdam and Shaun Cusack, both Aboriginal men from Central Australia currently working in the Clontarf program in Alice Springs. We have been talking for some time and they have put some ideas on paper for me. I have had the opportunity to mention that to minister Macklin. Their program is looking at focusing on the 18- to 25-year-old men in Alice Springs. Through the statistics we have heard tonight, this is the at-risk group we are talking about - the young urban Indigenous and the non-Indigenous males, particularly a bit older 30- to 50-year-old age. But the 18- to 25-year-olds are certainly slipping through the gaps and the Tjaiya-rratja program - Arrernte for Right Tracks - is something I am willing to work closely on with Ian and Shaun. I urge colleagues, if they are in Alice Springs, to talk to these local men about their program. Regarding solutions, the program they have presented to me really does provide some opportunities.
Other people I will acknowledge are, I suppose, on the front line dealing with some of the issues that we have talked about in suicide prevention particularly. The Strong Bulla organisation in Katherine is a group consisting of local Indigenous men and people from the non-government organisations and the health alliances in Katherine providing strong support, particularly for Indigenous men in the Katherine region. They do a fantastic job. More support for these types of groups is vital, and something the committee should also consider. There is also the Congress men’s unit with Baden Williams and Johnny Liddle, the crew in Alice Springs, who do a fantastic job as well in helping prevent suicides and supporting men in Alice Springs.
Looking to the motion, particularly the amendment, we know there is a plethora of programs and dollars out there already. We know the Northern Territory Suicide Prevention Action Plan is coming to a conclusion this year. Because of that, this motion is even more timely, understanding that a formal review of the Northern Territory Suicide Prevention Action Plan will take place at the end of this year and will involve consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. It is very timely that we have this motion before the House. I am sure this select committee will play a key role in that review.
Regarding this motion, an example of this plethora of programs and dollars we have seen come through the Northern Territory - and it is probably not the best example – is one of the areas I have been concerned about particularly, the Safe Places program for men funded by the Commonwealth, through the Northern Territory. There are nine throughout the Northern Territory. We talk about the target group and the most at-risk group in the suicide statistics we see.
I welcome the committee and the work they are going to be doing, because I am concerned as I am aware there are five of these men’s Safe Places that are currently closed and have no staff working in them. I checked that up today; two of those are in my electorate. They include the Yuendumu men’s Safe Place, the one at Aputula, and the one at Pmara Jutuntanear Ti Tree.
These types of program play a vital role, particularly in that risk group of men we are talking about in remote communities. To have these Safe Places not operating and closed is very worrying. There are also two in the Top End at Angurugu and Ramingining. I ask the minister to look into that because there is a plethora of money and programs out there. One of the things the committee needs to look at - and it is great that it is there - is how effective these programs are.
We are not talking about extra dollars all the time. I believe we can do better with the programs we have. The unfortunate thing is - I think the member for Macdonnell mentioned it - the latest one in my electorate was a young fellow from Yuendumu who committed suicide. What role could that men’s Safe Place have played in that young man’s life if it was open and operating, and doing what it was meant to do? My bush colleagues would have a frustration with the continual rates of suicide in our remote communities - and the statistics are there. I urge the select committee to look at that. It is not always about extra dollars; it is about how effective the dollars and the programs are out there. I was particularly concerned about that. Then, to hear about the death of this young man from Yuendumu distressed me greatly.
Madam Speaker, I will not talk much longer. I also acknowledge the beyondblue organisation. They do some great work in the Northern Territory. I acknowledge our representative from the Northern Territory, Dr Steven Larkin, who is one of the Directors of beyondblue. Organisations such as the AFLNT have some great programs to support suicide prevention, and also in our Indigenous communities.
I also acknowledge the people from the Mental Health Association in Alice Springs. They are doing some fantastic things. I love their motto: ‘Enjoy regular exercise, take one thing at a time, and share a laugh with friends’. Looking through what they deliver in their programs and services, there is a huge number of programs and services out there. That is why it is timely with this motion; we are reviewing the Suicide Action Prevention Plan. We need to ask serious questions on why it is not working. If the statistics of suicide rates are getting worse, then the committee needs to show leadership and really ask the hard questions. It is great there is bipartisan support for this. It is very timely, and it addresses such an urgent matter for the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, in closing, I again thank the member for Nelson for bringing this forward. I impress upon the House strongly that what we are agreeing on today can really save lives. It is important that we need to act quickly. The work of the parliamentary select committee is about saving lives and, as parliamentarians, we probably would not have thought about that when we first came in. We have a unique, bipartisan opportunity to play a key role in saving people’s lives, particularly our young people.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I support the motion put forward by the member for Nelson, and the amendment by the Minister for Health, on this very serious problem of suicide in our community.
You cannot talk about suicide without talking about mental health, and mental health is an area in which I have worked extensively over the years. My career as a social worker started in the mid-1980s. I was appointed to a position as a psychiatric social worker at a mental health unit. One of my jobs was to be on an on-call crisis service. In those days, the mobile telephones we used were the size of a small esky, so we would lug these big things around all weekend whilst on call. I remember, on many occasions, being called out in the middle of the night - as a young woman really not knowing myself very well - and having to assist different people who were clearly distressed and in a highly suicidal state.
In those days, there was not much literature on suicide, or the resources and understanding of suicide as there is now. Much of what we did 25 years ago was flying by the seat of our pants to a large extent. We were taught to look at things very much in a psychiatric framework, which has changed over the years. If someone was suicidal years ago, they were diagnosed as psychotic, depressed, or neurotic. We now know that is simply not the case. Those diagnoses are very unhelpful and do not reflect what is happening in our community when it comes to suicide.
When we talk about mental health, we talk about what it is for a human being to feel settled, safe, and stable within their own skin. What we see in our community, all too often, are people walking around the streets and living an existence which lacks true meaning, self-esteem, self-respect, dignity and, above all, purpose. Many people do not wake up in the morning and have any meaning or purpose to their lives, which we all know. We have all said this evening in many different ways, this makes people feel disconnected with the world and their surroundings, from their families and from society.
It is interesting, a girlfriend of mine contacted me earlier this week. She somehow heard along the grapevine that we would be speaking about suicide this week. She knew the young man at Yuendumu who died recently who took his own life, and she expressed her deep grief over the loss of that young man’s life. She had a personal connection to him. She drew my attention to the recent London riots and an article in The Australian that appeared on 13 August 2011. She drew a parallel between what she interpreted as the problems she sees in different communities throughout the Northern Territory and her understanding and what she had read of what was happening in London. She sent me the article, and it talked about disenfranchised youth, about a state of welfarism and social fragmentation, and about an imploded community where people felt a loss of control and a sense of powerlessness and impotency. It concluded by saying:
- Decades of misguided government policies have undermined its fabric. The challenge is to ensure that young people are forced to understand that their future depends on their own effort and achievement, and that the best way forward for them is to develop a stake in their community.
I like that, not just because it talks about government policy, but it also talks about responsibility and allowing people to have a say in their community, and encouraging them to have a stake in their community which is very important.
As the shadow for Child Protection, I feel an obligation to talk about the connection that exists between child abuse, neglect, and suicide. The literature is overwhelming. There is a very strong connection, particularly between child sexual abuse and the risk of suicide. An article from ABC news online, illustrates this. It is an article about a new study of victims of child sexual abuse saying they are at a much higher risk of committing suicide or dying from an accidental drug overdose when they become adults. The study revealed that people who are sexually abused as a child are 18 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, and 49 times more likely to die from an accidental drug overdose.
Those figures are staggering. I guess there is much more literature and research which says the same thing. If you have had - and this has been said by numerous people in the room tonight – a hard, difficult childhood, if you are abused or neglected, if there is some sort of trauma in your childhood, then the risk of you going on to attempt suicide or commit suicide is very high.
The Little Children are Sacred report attempted to identify the enormous problem of child sexual abuse - not just the problem itself, but that the implications of what child sexual abuse does to the human psyche and the human soul is extensive, it is pervasive, it is there forever. The Little Children are Sacred report could be interpreted as not just a guide of how we might address the problem of child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory, but it also could be used as a guide for how we proceed in identifying ways of resolving or addressing the problem of youth suicide in the Northern Territory.
We all know the strategies that were outlined in the Little Children are Sacred report. We all know they were about very concrete things as much as anything - about housing, education, health, pornography, and alcohol reform, and all those things we talk about every day in parliament. As the member for Sanderson said - and other people also said it, but it resonated with me when the member for Sanderson said it - prevention is better than cure. If we prevent the child abuse from occurring, if we prevent these children from having a traumatic lifestyle, we are halfway there to resolving the problem of youth suicide.
Madam Speaker, I will not continue for much longer. We are all reading from the same page; we are all singing from the same song sheet. Suicide is a huge problem in our community; it is not going to go away easily. A combined effort in showing and demonstrating to the people of the Northern Territory we are very serious about this issue is definitely the best way forward. I commend the motion to the House and the amendment. I congratulate the member for Nelson for bringing it forward.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased so many people, on both sides of parliament, have made the effort to put forward their views on this serious subject. I must admit - it might have been the last words spoken by the member for Araluen and she reminded me the member for Sanderson said it - prevention is better than cure - I could not agree more.
I have said before in this parliament that early intervention needs to be a key objective of government. We know this from work done in schools where children are seen to be at risk of going off the rails. I believe there has been some work done in Queensland schools where teachers have been trained to see that young people are having problems at school, and are able to then be proactive, and go and talk to the family about some of the issues, find out what the problems are. This was in relation to some statistics that showed if this child kept going the way they were, they would end up in prison. It always came back to me that if you spend $1 now, you would save something like $100 later. Surely, this is the same thing; prevention is better than cure. I believe that is something that should be the motto of this group.
I understand where the member for Sanderson was coming from in relation to seniors, and I am not in any way denigrating what he was saying. However, the motion is about young people. Sometimes, young people do not feel they are loved. They have no one to talk to if relationships have broken down and families have fallen apart - and we live in an age where the divorce rate is extremely high. You wonder why people are pushing to get married when the divorce rates are so high. We have to do a great deal more work when it comes to parenting; giving skills to people to try to provide the skills that would mean the family would be a happy and secure place for young people to be. They need to know that when they are with their family they are not going to be abused.
I was interested in what the member for Araluen was saying about the link between child sexual abuse and suicide. I believe that is an issue we cannot stay away from. I have never been a social worker so it is always interesting to hear people in the business talk about issues I do not really know about. One thing that comes out of this select committee will, I believe, be an education process for many people who are, I suppose, scared to look at this issue because it can be frightening. When we start to look at the issues, it may be more frightening.
One of the key things we need to look at is how we can prevent it. That does not mean we will not look at the other issues about helping people who are at risk. How do we look at other issues such as unemployment or welfare? The member for Blain spoke on welfare. The member for Casuarina spoke passionately about welfare. We are able to send a message to Canberra, as a unified parliament, that we think welfare is the scourge of our society, and we are taking away the dignity of human beings by giving them the only choice for not working is welfare. I agree with the member for Casuarina; we have only 200 000 people in the Northern Territory, we have this huge land mass – why do we have people on welfare? It is not as if we are a little island where there is nothing much to do and we ran out of space and jobs. Surely, in the Northern Territory we can find things to do?
We have to, somehow, show young people they have a worth; their lives are worthy of living, and we want to know about them; that they are not just a number, not just someone who lives out bush or in town and no one cares about them. Parliament has an opportunity to send a message out that all people are worthy of love and respect.
We also have to ensure the tools are out there for those people to be able to use the talents everyone is given to contribute to this world we live in. It is so sad when I walk around and see young people - and I say young, between 20 and 30. I see them in the morning. I come to Darwin early in the morning and I see some Aboriginal men walking past and I think: ‘What a waste’. Probably from the good Lord’s point of view, they are all human beings the good Lord loves but, from an earthly point of view, you feel there is a waste of humanity going past.
How can we ensure every person who is born contributes to our society in a meaningful way? Suicide is the total opposite to that. To me, if we can change the attitudes of our society, if we can even save a few lives, at least that is something. I hope we can save many more than a few lives. We need to make the effort. If we do not at least try - and I would be the first to say sometimes select committees and committees can issue reports that disappear into the ether, sit on shelves - then I would be worried. However, members of both sides of this House have said tonight there is a serious issue and we need to do something about it.
I should also say let us not forget all those good people out there working. I come here as a non-expert; I have no great knowledge about suicide except to say it came home to me very much from a suicide in Bees Creek about 15 years ago. A young woman of about 30 years old killed herself one evening or afternoon. Her husband came home from work in Darwin - a very intelligent man. This was a French couple. People knew he was going to be a risk and they tried to help him to get him through the grief. He killed himself on the Sunday. I went to that funeral. I come from a religious background. That funeral was the emptiest funeral I have ever attended. There were no prayers. A few family members came out from France. It was like a cessation; like there was no hope. It was very sad.
The member for Casuarina mentioned that some churches do not recognise a person who has committed suicide. I hope that has changed in my church. I do not believe we make judgments about one person’s worth or whether they were good or bad; that will be for someone else to decide. I hope that is not the case, at least in my church. If we still believe in the dignity of the human, no matter how they died, we should treat them that way. I will be checking, but I hope that is not the case in my church.
Madam Speaker, I thank everyone for their contributions. I have written down a list of ideas people have put forward. In reality, those are the ideas I hope will come out of the contribution of members of the committee, from the people they talk to. I am listening to what people have said about various reports. I hope we could get some of those authors. I mentioned Leonore Hanssens from the Charles Darwin University who has been a researcher there; the member for Araluen mentioned some other people. We need to get as many people with the knowledge as possible, but I also think it is an absolute that you have to sit down with the right people, so the right people can give you the right information.
We discussed this in our office yesterday. There would be nothing worse than a committee to walk in and think you are going to have a public meeting on suicide. That is not going to work. You need to be putting out the feelers about who you should talk to. You might have two or three groups of people - it might be the men, might be youth, might be mothers, it might be whatever. It is not for me to say, but we need to be really conscious if we are going into remote communities that we deal with the people the right way so we can get the right information. If it means you sit in the dirt, so be it – I do not have a problem with sitting on the lawn. It is such a sensitive issue the committee has to be aware it has to be done in an appropriate way. The same if you are dealing with people in Darwin.
We have heard about the pain and suffering of the people whose loved ones have passed away in these circumstances; how much they still suffer today. It is going to be a very sensitive topic for this committee. The member for Macdonnell has said she would be the Independent member, and that is great. There is an opportunity here. In the history of this place, it is meant to be adversarial, I understand that. However, this issue is bringing people together who have issues, sometimes, politically. In this case, the issue is far greater than politics; it is far more important. It is great to hear that people will come together on this committee to come up with a solution.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing forward the amendment. I thank both sides of parliament for their contribution and support of this amended motion. I wish the committee well. We are thin on the ground when it comes to supplying members for committees. I know some of the members of the government work very hard on existing committees and have now taken on a role in a new committee. It is not going to be easy for them, but this is a very worthwhile task they are taking on. I hope when they come back to this parliament we have conclusions and recommendations that will really make a difference, because that is what we have to have from this committee. I do not think we want another report that quotes the statistics - not that they are not important - but how we are going to lower the statistics. That is what we need to have come out of this. I am very interested to see what happens.
Thank you, everyone, for contributing. I hope the committee will come back to this parliament with some real recommendations that will make a difference.
Madam SPEAKER: There are two questions before the Chair. The first is the motion as moved by the member for Nelson, and the second is the amendment as moved by the Minister for Health.
Amendment agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
MOTION
Live Cattle Export Ban – Impact on Agricultural and Transport Industries
Live Cattle Export Ban – Impact on Agricultural and Transport Industries
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Speaker. I move that –
- The Northern Territory government provide a comprehensive summary of the impact of live export ban of cattle from the Northern Territory on the agricultural and transport industries of the Northern Territory with particular reference to the following areas of business and occupation:
(a) hay and fodder production;
Agriculture in the north is intrinsically linked to the fortunes and future of the cattle industry. Both industries have a vital independence. Hay and fodder producers, feed millers, seed producers, contractors, transport operators, and mixed farming enterprises all play a part in northern cattle industry. The fodder industry is a vital component of the live cattle trade and essential in the welfare and marketing of cattle in the Northern Territory.
The fodder industry extends from the Barkly Tablelands to the Sturt Plateau, through the Katherine-Daly basin, and into the Darwin rural area. It is undertaken by many small family operations, corporate companies, and Indigenous organisations. It employs hundreds of people directly and indirectly and is a major supporter of local agribusinesses such as machinery, mechanical services, contractors, fertilisers, seed, and agrichemical businesses.
The total value of fodder produced in the Top End of the Northern Territory is over $30m when transport, milling, and value-adding is considered. The fodder trade has virtually stopped since the interim ban was announced in early June this year. The agricultural industry and mixed farmers of the Darwin and Katherine-Daly basin and surrounding regions have been hit especially hard.
Many businesses are both cattle and hay producers, with the result that these people have been hit doubly hard by not being able to move or sell cattle or hay, despite having substantial production costs. Most have already let many staff go, including family members, many of whom will be lost to the industry. The ban coincided with the time of year at which all hay producers and feed mills rely on sales and income. This has resulted in a dire situation for the industry and individual family businesses.
Individual producers have already incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income and are facing additional costs with the upcoming Wet Season. Producers now have thousands of tonnes of hay in the field or paddock and have been unable to recover any production costs. They now face significant additional cost in restacking and covering the hay prior to the Wet Season. It is estimated that producers in the Top End have between 50 000 and 80 000 tonnes of hay to store at a cost of around $20 per tonne including tarping, transport, and stacking. Once the Wet Season arrives, three things will happen: (1) hay sales and demand will be significantly reduced; (2) prices for any hay sold will be downwards; and (3) hay will start to deteriorate with losses being significant, unless well tarped or stored in sheds. This all adds up to continuing losses for the industry.
This valuable resource needs to be protected throughout the Wet Season. If not correctly covered, there will be significant loss and spoilage. This will mean further losses for producers and could well mean a severe shortage of hay for next season, with the resulting animal welfare issues.
Cattle producers are also in the position of needing hay, but not having the funds to purchase it. With a relatively modest amount of assistance, producers could apply for grants to help them meet the costs of covering and protecting their hay. This would be a cost-effective investment in protecting between $10m and $15m worth of hay and many businesses in the process. This will ensure there is hay on hand for the industry when required to ensure stock are fed.
I ask the minister and the Northern Territory government to contribute direct assistance and to lobby the Commonwealth government to the tune of about $2m, which is in addition to the recent announcements by the Commonwealth government. I have not seen many announcements, if any, where funding or support has been committed directly to the agricultural industry. It should be made available to the agricultural fodder industry to meet the cost of stacking, transporting, storing, and covering hay prior to the Wet Season - while many of us usually want an early Wet Season, this year we all want a late Wet Season - and to allow cattle producers to buy fodder to ensure cattle are fed when feed runs out late in the Dry Season.
While industry would benefit now and into the future if they could construct sheds on their properties for hay storage by using their recently announced low-interest loans, many businesses are not in the position to borrow any more funds. Therefore, the necessity for more direct assistance to this industry is essential.
I want to highlight a couple of case studies, incidents, or family stories in regard to the impacts on the agricultural industry. I will not use names of the companies or the families, because they did not want me do so.
Let us take case No 1. It is a family property and they have been on the property for about eight years, and have been doing well. They produce 6000 tonnes per year and employ eight people full-time. As of the start of the ban, they have not produced any feed, and they have had to let all their employees go, including the family members - which is eight people who have lost their jobs. They did spend weeks doing maintenance, but they could no longer afford to pay them, so let them go. When this business does start up again, they will have to employ and retrain new staff, because the previous staff have left - if not left the Territory. The ban caused this family and this business to put on hold all their infrastructure expenditure due to not having any idea when or what income will be in for the next 12 months.
The cost to this business of the past 10 weeks has already exceeded $100 000 in lost income. Then, there are the follow-on costs of reduced feed value and quality in unprocessed hay, storing and tarping costs, and the potential production losses next Wet Season due to the inability to afford fertilizer on improved pastures and hay crops. Weed control and pasture crop maintenance have suffered, and will suffer, due to the inability to pay for the necessary agronomic practices which will have long-term repercussions for the production into the future. The cost of replacing and training new staff will have a significant financial cost to the business. They are just some of the small problems facing this business and family into the future.
I look at case No 2, which is a family-owned property a little further south of Darwin. The ban on live export has had a disastrous impact on this family business, and on the industry generally. This business and family immediately stopped harvesting their hay as orders were cancelled and hay movement completely stopped. Their remaining hay paddock, which would normally return about $78 000, still has not been harvested, so that means that fodder, over a period of time, will become worthless.
Prior to the ban, they were sending out 100 tonnes – 200 bales of hay - per week. This ceased from 7 June 2011 and they have only sold four bales of hay to the horse industry. Since the start of the ban, this has represented a loss of nearly $200 000 in lost revenue and the situation is continuing. Their contracts, which would normally have continued until January 2012, which represent about 60% of their farm annual income, have now practically ceased. On top of this, as the Wet Season approaches, the unsold hay will require storage and tarping at a cost of $10 to $20 per tonne. While there is no income coming in for the hay, they also may be faced with a $30 000 bill to restack, store, and tarp the hay.
The financial strain on this family business has caused a complete restructure of the business, now and into the future. They have difficulty meeting their day-to-day running costs, and the overdraft will have to be significantly increased so they can meet their commitments and survive as a farming entity. Two members of this family have already left the business and moved to Darwin to seek other employment due to the inability to pay wages.
With the third case study, another business south of Darwin, on the day the live cattle trade was shut down, three hay contracts worth approximately $120 000 were immediately stopped. Another share farming deal was stopped also, with approximately 4000 large square bales remaining unharvested with a gross loss of around $30 000. This area which remains unharvested was fertilised and maintained as a hay paddock at a cost of $25 000, which will now not be recouped.
All of these hay contracts and share farming agreements were directly aimed at providing hay to the live cattle export trade. Another 3000 bales remain in the paddock unsold, with significantly lower prospects for sales and good prices due to the large stockpile of hay all over the Top End and the downward pressure on prices. As with all other hay producers, tarping and storage will represent a significant problem and cost. Tarping for this family business will amount to about $30 000. This business has repair and maintenance bills of over $25 000, and a delivery truck that is unable to be repaired due to lack of finances. This business has laid off one permanent employee and has been unable to employ two casuals they normally employ at this time of the year. The ban has cost this family hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost and foregone income, and will have impacts on the viability for a long time future - if there is a future at all - for this company and family.
They are just three case studies of how it has impacted across the agricultural industry in the Top End. What I am asking the government is if they could give answers to us and the people of the Northern Territory. What is the exact and the specific extent of the ban of live export on the agricultural industry? What talks has the government and the minister had with the agricultural industry in the Top End? What assistance packages are available for the agricultural industry and have these been signalled to the industry, and is the minister talking with industry? Has the minister considered providing a forum to share experiences and ideas, and to mitigate the impacts of the live export ban for the agricultural people?’ I am interested to hear the minister answer these questions.
In regard to the transport industry that services both the cattle and the agricultural industry, they too have suffered substantial losses of income and turnover. At the Senate inquiry only some two weeks ago, we heard that Road Trains Australia, in one month alone, had an income turnover go down by $2.7m and they had put off 13 full-time employees. The export yards, the AQIS inspected yards, also have suffered loss of income and employees were put off. I am interested to hear from the minister what work he has done with those businesses and the government in regard to any assistance packages.
Regarding heli-mustering and contract mustering, we also heard at the Senate inquiry that one of the major commercial pastoral properties in the Northern Territory had put off eight full-time Aboriginal stockmen and they were not utilising the services of another 50 people in regard to contract work on their three properties in the Barkly region.
Madam Speaker, I ask the minister and the government to give us a clear indication of what their understanding is of the impact of the live export ban on the agricultural industry, and the support industries such as the transport industry, the export yards, the heli-mustering, and the contractors. How many jobs have been lost? What is going to be done to recoup and regain the lost ground? How is the government going to help these people who are suffering terribly?
Mr VATSKALIS (Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources): Madam Speaker, we welcome the member for Goyder’s motion to provide a comprehensive summary of the impact of the ban on the export of live cattle from the Northern Territory.
In outlining the impact of the suspension of the live cattle export trade, like all Territorians, I was shocked by the footage showing the cruel treatment of Australian cattle in some Indonesian abattoirs. Pastoralists themselves were upset by the images, with a number of pastoralists saying they would no longer supply their cattle into export markets unless adequate welfare standards could be ensured. Although it has not been reported widely, the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra issued a media release condemning the practices. We have been working with industry, with my interstate colleagues, Terry Redman, the Western Australian minister for Agriculture, Tim Mulholland, the Queensland minister for Agriculture, and the federal government.
Following the Four Corners program, Hon Joe Ludwig MP, Australian government Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, ordered an immediate investigation into the footage. On Tuesday, 7 June, Senator Ludwig implemented orders suspending export of all animals for slaughter.
On Thursday, 9 June, I attended the opening of the CDU pharmacy building by the Prime Minister. The Chief Minister and I took the opportunity to brief the Prime Minister on the impact on the Northern Territory pastoral industry. A response to it was made jointly by me and my state colleagues.
Senator Ludwig convened a national conference with Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland ministers on 10 June 2011. An industry and government working group was appointed to jointly develop the protocols to ensure the traceability of all Australian livestock exported to Indonesia. The Northern Territory lobbied for the inclusion of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association as part of the working group rather than simply be represented by its national body. The group is working on ensuring animal welfare and recommencement of the trade, management of the domestic implication of the trade’s suspension and a course of action for managing Australia’s relationship with international markets.
At the request of the federal minister, I travelled to Indonesia with Mr Rohan Sullivan, President of the NTCA, and Mr Adam Hills, CEO of the exporters, to meet with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Mahendra Siregar, who is the Vice Minister of Trade in Indonesia. I also met with Mr Toni Wibowo, the Director of Lembu Jantan Perkasa – who operates a cattle breeding feeding lot and trading company - about operations in Indonesia.
The Territory continues to have a special relationship with Indonesia and, in providing feedback to the Australia government, a decision was made to lift the ban. Both the Prime Minister and minister Ludwig stated clearly they want to reopen cattle export to Indonesia, but it has to be guaranteed that all cattle will be slaughtered in an appropriate method in approved abattoirs. That is why the minister rang me personally and asked me to visit Indonesia; first of all to discuss that issue with the department of Agriculture officials and, second, to provide him with feedback about the Indonesian opinion on imposing the ban on live cattle export.
The Indonesian Embassy issued a media release confirming both the Indonesian and Australian governments will continue to work together to recommence the trade and ensure appropriate welfare standards. Senator Ludwig has appointed former Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Bill Farmer, to lead a review of the live animal export industry. This review is separate to the work of the joint industry and government working group.
The new protocols will ensure appropriate animal welfare of Australian sourced cattle throughout the entire supply chain, from the point of unloading to the feedlots and into an abattoir. The supply chain will be transparent and independently audited. Individual operators could lose their licence to export if animals have not been handled through the approved supply chain to which the exporters were granted permission to export. Simply accrediting abattoirs - and not the entire supply chain - will not provide the certainty we need to ensure appropriate animal welfare standards are met.
We are all aware the export of live cattle is the largest primary industry in the Northern Territory, and the impact of the ban has touched every corner of the Northern Territory. During the 2009-010 financial year, the farm gate value for Northern Territory cattle sent to all destinations was $250m.
The Northern Territory government appeared before the Senate committee in Darwin and explained the impact of the suspension of the live trade on Territorians. We also called upon the Independent members to withdraw their private members bill that sought to ban live exports. Live exports from Darwin have commenced. Around 3000 head left on 10 August and 4000 head on 11 August - and that is just the first step.
The annual farm gate value of production of Territory live export cattle is estimated between $166m and $200m annually. When landed in Indonesia, these cattle are worth between $250m to $280m. This is a significant industry employing around 2000 people. When you consider many of these jobs are in regional and remote areas, you begin to understand how important this is to the Territory.
Over the past 30 years, cattle have been exported from the Territory. In the 1980s, a significant proportion of the trade was to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian markets. This market declined due to the Southeast Asian monetary crisis and subsequent issues around exchange rates between the Australian and other markets; for example, the Philippines. However, the market in Indonesia then started to return in line with expanding middle class population seeking beef as a protein source.
While the northern part of the Territory can breed high-quality animals, we cannot cost-effectively finish these animals for slaughter due to poor feed quality in the Dry Season, something the Indonesians can do well and very efficiently with good-quality feed from agricultural by-products such as pineapple waste and palm kernel cake.
The Territory cattle industry sees turn-off from the Top End, Katherine, VRD and northern Barkly regions primarily targeted to the live export trade. The industry is based on tropical breeds well suited to Southeast Asian markets. In contrast, the southern Barkly region removes animals to Queensland feedlots and backgrounding properties, while Central Australia, with predominately non-tropical breeds, can grow animals to slaughter weight bound for southern Australian markets.
In 2010, 273 000 Northern Territory cattle were exported to Indonesia through the Port of Darwin. While it is not clear how many Northern Territory cattle will be exported to Indonesia through the Port of Darwin this year, it will be significantly lower than in previous years. Up to the end of July 2011, 110 000 head had been exported to Indonesia. Based on currently available information, modelling suggests that up to 200 000 head may be exported this year, a shortfall of approximately 70 000 head, and may be as high as 100 000 head.
A recent survey undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences provides a ‘snapshot in time’ survey on the impact of the suspension of the live export trade across northern Australia, including Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland at 1 July 2011. A total of 230 properties were surveyed to determine the effects of the suspension of the trade in slaughter cattle to Indonesia. Of the estimated 1459 farm businesses with more than 100 cattle, 660 intended to export cattle to Indonesia with around half intending to sell their cattle.
The survey stated the trade suspension had the greatest impact on the Top End/Roper/Gulf and the Victoria River/Katherine areas. These areas had the highest percentage of producers intending to sell more than 50% of their turn-off on the live export market.
At the end of July, 365 000 cattle remained unsold in Northern Australia, with almost 160 000 cattle located in the Northern Territory.
The most startling figure again relates to employment, with the survey finding an estimated 326 north Australian cattle industry employees were either laid off or not hired between the time of the announcement and end of June 2011. We should remember that over 90% of farm businesses in the north are hard-working family operations.
Uncertainty about the duration of the suspension at the time of the survey reported by 75% of farm businesses was the most important short-term constraint to managing the suspension of trade. Other concerns included finance and cash flows, information on alternative markets, availability of feed, and the availability of livestock transport. Five businesses indicated a range of strategies they would utilise in response to the suspension, including finding alternative markets, reducing non-essential expenditure, changing mustering plans, increased stocking rates, and adjusting herd management. Around 37% of Northern Territory farm businesses deferred non-essential expenditure on capital, plant, infrastructure and repairs.
In north Western Australia, the figure was more than double at 80%. About 48% of Northern Territory businesses changed or delayed mustering plans, 35% of farm businesses in the Northern Territory reduced staff, loan repayments were deferred by 6% of farm businesses, 67% of businesses require additional feed or agistment for retained stock, with Northern Territory producers reporting that 2.8 months of feed was available.
In responses from farm businesses, the majority of pastoralists - some 74% - identified they would need to find alternative markets if the live trade did not recommence quickly. Pastoralists are saying they would sell into lower-priced markets to generate cash flow, and reduce stocking rates. The survey confirmed that 86% of respondents would reduce expenditure on capital, plant, infrastructure or repairs, and 89% of Northern Territory respondents said they will change mustering plans.
Put simply, pastoralists are reducing expenditure. They are suffering from lack of cash flow and there is a flow-on throughout Darwin and regional business. A study on the financial impact of cattle export restrictions to Indonesia presents similar findings.
With regard to hay and fodder production, the hay production industry in the north grew up around live cattle export to a value of almost $15m a year, and is almost entirely reliant upon it. This industry also came to a sudden and immediate halt when the export ban was imposed, with existing contracts cancelled or not filled. A range of operators produce hay in the Territory. Some are specialist producers and others breed cattle as well. These producers are now left with one option only, which is to store their hay over the Wet Season - on or off farm - at considerable cost, or lose their crop and any potential income. Some hay producers are resorting to alternative sources to offload their product as they simply cannot afford to store it for the foreseeable future. The overall impact on the hay industry will, ultimately, rely on the recovery of the live trade and the ability of alternative markets to absorb the product.
The transport component of the live cattle export supply chain was conservatively estimated to be $13.2m in 2009-10. Some of the loss of live export transport business as a result of the suspension of the live cattle exports for a month, and the expected slow recovery, would be offset by the transport of cattle sold in alternate markets. The cost of transport to eastern and southern markets will be higher for many producers in the Top End. It is very difficult to ascertain the number of transport businesses involved in the live cattle trade. The number of people employed in the live cattle transport business and the impact on employment is not available. Anecdotal evidence for the current situation is that limited transporting of live animals has commenced, the extended grounding of transport fleet has resulted in reduced revenue and inability to service lease fees, a skilled migration has occurred with contract drivers forced to seek other employment, and many existing and forward contracts have been greatly reduced or cancelled.
Helicopter mustering is an important labour-saving input in cattle production in the Northern Territory. It is very difficult to ascertain the number of businesses involved in providing animal mustering services. Anecdotal advice of the current situation is that one of the major local helicopter businesses has grounded 29 of its fleet of 49 helicopters since the live export suspension.
The impact upon Territory veterinary services is difficult to gauge. It is safe to say services were in demand during the initial stage of the ban to ensure animal welfare standards were upheld as stock remained in holding yards across the north. During the suspension, less veterinarian services were required for pre-shipment inspection services by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and other veterinarians, as the boats were not operating.
Some Territory export yards and holding depots are also used as trucking facilities to move cattle interstate, as well as to export. Immediately following the announcement of the suspension, officers of my department moved quickly to work with colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services’ Animal Welfare Unit and AQIS to ensure the health and welfare of those cattle caught in transit. The volume of cattle moving through those yards in Darwin to interstate is currently low; higher in Katherine and at Kalala Station. Both Territory and Kimberley cattle are being handled through the Katherine and Kalala facilities …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, it is now 9 pm. Do you wish to continue your remarks for up to 10 minutes?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, Madam Speaker, I will finish within 10 minutes.
Madam SPEAKER: You have up until 9.10 pm at the maximum and that is the end of your speech. Please continue.
Mr VATSKALIS: Thank you. Export yards and holding depots employ stockmen to manage the feeding and handling of cattle. Anecdotal evidence is as the yards emptied as cattle were sent elsewhere, some of the stockmen found alternative employment.
As mentioned earlier, the survey showed the pastoralists, as they immediately responded to the suspension of trade, reduced non-essential expenditure. The suspension has also meant pastoralists in the Top End who rely on the export markets have not made sales, hence cash flow has been zero while expenses are mounting up.
It is fair to say all Territory cattle enterprises and ancillary industries in rural communities have been affected in some way. There are vast numbers of operators affected including holding yards managers and workers, ship owners and agents, export ship stockmen, ship providores, stevedores, veterinary service providers, road transport, and so on. Of the almost 1000 people directly and indirectly employed by the live cattle export trade in the Territory, 162 of them were either laid off or not employed as a result of the ban.
The focus of the Northern Territory government and me is a bipartisan approach of this parliament. This approach has been to take quick and decisive action in partnership with industry to seek the recommencement of our export trade. In response to the suspension, a senior departmental official well known to the pastoral and agricultural industry, was directly appointed to assist the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association to determine the emerging impacts and direct industry members to assistance and support.
As stated in our submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport, the live export of cattle is the major primary industry in the Territory. We have suffered severe job losses as a result of the suspension of trade, and major change has been forced upon almost all export producers.
In seeking to determine the impact of the suspension of the livestock trade, government and industry are delivering information and feedback sessions for all affected businesses. The locations and dates are as follows: Bark Hut on 15 August; Douglas Daly on 16 August; Mataranka/Sturt Plateau on 18 August; Timber Creek on 23 August; Top Springs on 24 August; Daly Waters on 24 August; and Larrimah on 25 August. These information sessions are aimed at providing updated information to affected producers, and may assist them to plan for the future of their pastoral enterprises.
The Northern Territory government is also contributing to industry assistance packages by providing pastoral property rent relief as outlined by the Chief Minister earlier this month. Direct assistance has already been offered through the Northern Territory Trades Support Scheme: $30 000 to support the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and $30 000 to support the Northern Territory Live Export Association. The funding will assist both organisations to engage in high levels of export marketing and activities in rebuilding the live cattle industry.
Additional assistance has been offered to business throughout Territory business growth and solution mechanisms, delivered through the department of Business. Financial support is available to other businesses to engage consultants and to assist with business diagnostics, cash flow management, financial restructure and negotiation, and business planning.
Madam Speaker, in closing, this Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a motion offering support for the recommencement of the live cattle trade. I must say it is extremely disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition has walked away from a bipartisan approach to do everything possible to recommence the trade. The Leader of the Opposition said he walked away from the agreement because the Chief Minister offered comments to the media. The member for Goyder was also in the media saying government was not on the ground in our international cattle export markets. A call to the cattlemen or exporters will dispel such a proposition.
I did not respond to these claims in the media because industry seeks leadership - not bickering, not politics. The Leader of the Opposition’s change in position appears to be more about internal tensions. I say this because I know the Leader of the Opposition supports the pastoral industry. We can only assume he has been overruled and directed to oppose government. It was on the same day the member for Fong Lim returned to the front bench.
Madam Speaker, I hope the Leader of the Opposition did the right thing and called NT Cattlemen and Livestock Exporters before announcing he walked away from a unanimous motion of this House to support the live cattle industry.
The focus of government and industry is on the recommencement of the trade and ensuring animal welfare. Only the recommencement of the trade will lessen the impact on the primary industry sector and so many related businesses that rely directly on the pastoral industry. The recommencement of the live export business is a welcome first step, but the crisis confronting the Northern Territory is far from over. It is the very reason why we are calling on the federal government to offer further financial assistance.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Madam SPEAKER: The Assembly is now adjourned pursuant to Standing Order 41A.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Speaker, tonight I will talk about some events that have been happening in schools in my electorate. First, I acknowledge the primary students from my electorate who are the 2nd term recipients for the Quiet Achiever Awards. These students are selected for the awards and have shown diligence in their studies as well as a genuine respect for peers and school property.
The Quiet Achiever Award recipients from Jingili Primary School were Sarah Browne and Audrey Fryar. Millner Primary School’s awards were presented to Moe Minn and Brenda Joseph. Wagaman Primary School was awarded to Naja Dyrting and Antonios Lelekis. Moil Primary School recipients were Nomiki Magoulias and Cassandra Lewis.
Moil school student, Jacinta Saynor in Year 2, participated in her first gymnastic competition recently at the Alice Springs Invitational. Jacinta did extremely well, winning medals for 1st on the floor, 2nd on the beam, and she came 2nd in the overall competition. Congratulations, Jacinta on a fantastic effort.
I congratulate Nicholas Cowling, who received a banner for his participation in the City Cluster Cricket in Division 2, and to Amy Fisher, who was awarded 1st prize for painting any medium on stretch canvas at the Royal Darwin Show. Well done, Nicholas and Emma.
Early this month, on 3 August 2011, Cluster Sports Day was held at Marrara. I am delighted to report that Millner students won the Darwin City Regional Athletics Carnival Championships School Trophy for the very first time. The school accomplished this despite fantastic opposition from larger schools across the Darwin area. Congratulations to the team at Millner for their excellent skills, sportsmanship, and contributions.
I congratulate students who participated in the events. They are: Shameka Petterson, Mathias Phillips, Richard Rankin, Ruby Pumpa, Braxton Ahmat, Cillia Williams, Antonis Mastrovasilis. These students did very well at the city cluster athletics championships.
Four other students at Millner with special needs were given an opportunity to represent at the city cluster championships. They are: Bianca Phillips, Kailang Millar, Jordan Kurnoth and Jerome Marralngurra. Well done for remarkable efforts.
Congratulations to Ms Julie Callum, City Cluster School Sports Coordinator, who makes these events possible, and to Ms Arratta, a teacher and Physical Education Coordinator, who works tirelessly to promote sport in the school.
Staying with the young sports stars of Johnston, I congratulate and recognise the efforts of three young representatives in the Northern Territory side of the National Under 18 men’s hockey league in Tasmania earlier this year. The Northern Territory had a win on the final day, defeating South Australia by 4:2. Congratulations to Sam Sommerville, who was rock solid in defence; Daniel Robinson, normally outstanding as goalie, enjoyed success on the field scoring against South Australia; and Jeremy Kay, who played a persistent role in all games.
Later that month, Jeremy and Daniel participated in the Hockey Futures Camp held at the Northern Territory Institute of Sport in conjunction with the Australian Hockey League, with Jeremy travelling to Perth in July where he enjoyed the experience as part of a very competitive Under 21 Northern Territory side in the national men’s championship in Perth. I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to support all the athletes in my electorate, as well as the young achievers, and I wish them well in the future.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Speaker, tonight I talk about the Southern Districts Cricket Club which is based in my electorate at Freds Pass Reserve. They are, as most people would understand, a non-profit community sporting club which played its first A Grade game in 1984, and has been providing cricket to the local community for more than 20 years - and very successfully.
The club is the only cricket club in the Darwin rural area and provides opportunities for both junior and senior players from Holtze through to Manton Dam, to participate in the official cricket competition. Members travel from as far as Corroboree, Acacia Hills, Darwin River, and Berry Springs to participate. The youth in the community is also engaged in this activity – it is healthy, safe, and supervised in a friendly environment and atmosphere.
Currently, there are junior teams - two Under 11s, three Under 13s, two Under 15s, and one Under 17s. The club also runs an Into Cricket Clinic for upwards of 40 players aged five years to 10 years. Currently, the senior teams are women’s E Grade, D Grade, C Grade, B Grade and A Grade.
Membership of this club is greater than 300 people, of which 190 are playing. This includes five girls playing in the junior competition and 10 women playing in the women’s competition. Also, there are 10 Indigenous senior players and 15 Indigenous junior players. The flow-on effect of the membership means that upwards of 1000 rural community members are engaged in this recreational and sporting activity. This is an extraordinary reach into the community, and it demonstrates the contribution to the community and, moreover, the wellbeing of the community.
The club and the cricket activity bring accessible and socially acceptable recreation options to boys, girls, men and women in the heart of the rural area. It is an outdoor activity that is undertaken in a safe and secure environment, as I mentioned. Through the sport of cricket, young people gain confidence and skills that will help them meet the challenges in school and life generally.
Southern Districts Cricket Club was the first Darwin cricket club to develop, prepare, and lay and maintain a turf wicket. It is the first cricket club to install practice lights. It has upgraded the practice net area, which will be the envy of most other Darwin clubs. This was done through sponsorship in-kind and many generous donations from members and local businesses in the rural area. It is also the first club to have on-field mobile site screens.
The reason for talking about Southern Districts Cricket Club tonight - apart from the good things it does and where it has come from - is this club is in urgent need of upgrade. It has put proposals to the NT government, and I urge and ask the minister to look favourably on what it is trying to achieve for the benefit of not only community, but also the rural area and the Darwin cricket community.
We have heard this evening much talk on the requirement and need for activities, and to get young people to feel valued and raise their self-esteem. One of the good ways we can do it is through the game of cricket - from a fun point of view, but also from a competitive point of view. The reason the facilities at Freds Pass need to be upgraded is Darwin is becoming a sought-after venue for cricket, as was evidenced by the recent feast of cricket games, the Top End T20 Challenge, and the proposed international games. There is a need to provide more facilities for training and games, especially when the wicket at Southern Districts has been judged the best premier grade wicket in Darwin for the last two years.
Cricket has always been part of Australia’s culture, and as more and more games are broadcast on the multimedia, many more families are encouraged and inspired to get involved. This can be good for families and the community, particularly at a time when we face many challenges in our communities, with young people and the need to provide extracurricular activities - as I mentioned previously in my talk on youth suicide and those serious issues.
The club has already received a $10 000 facilities grant but, really, it needs in the vicinity of $500 000. It requires player changing rooms to enable safe and secure gender-based rooms, particularly to cater for the junior underage players. It needs umpire changing rooms, secure storage for office records, canteen stock, uniforms and equipment, office and meeting rooms, and outdoor storage for the roller and other curatorial equipment.
I was at the club on the weekend because it was the memorial match for Geoff Akers, who passed away a few years ago. Pints, sadly, took the cup home again. They did not win the A Grade, but they took out the B and the C Grades. It was a good two days. It was lovely to sit under the shady trees and watch many people enjoy themselves and children playing happily in the surrounding areas. I urge and ask the minister for Sport and the NT government to look again at the request for support and funding. I will be writing to the minister on behalf of the Southern Districts Cricket Club to commend it to him. Hopefully, he will view it favourably in light of the discussions that have gone before us today in regard to providing services and facilities for the young people of the Northern Territory.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak with much pleasure tonight about an annual event in Katherine held on 6 August 2011. I am referring to a special event that has its roots in aristocratic Europe of the 17th century. I have noticed two references to the origins of the name of this event. In one reference, the event comes from the French word dbuter, which means ‘to begin’. In another reference, which is a bit more fulsome, the event is self-named from the word ‘debutante’, which means ‘female beginner’.
I am referring, of course, to the 2011 Katherine Debutante Ball. The history around this event revolves around young women, usually aged 17 or 18 years, who are formally introduced to affluent society at a ball or coming out party. The original purpose of the debut was to announce young women of prominent social standing were available for courtship by eligible young men. This social ritual was necessitated by the traditional upper class practice of sending girls away to boarding school, where they were virtually hidden from view, prohibited from dating, attending parties of mixed company, or socialising with adults. A formal announcement thus introduced the debutante to her social peers and potential suitors. The custom has been long established among the aristocracy and the upper classes in England where debutantes were, until the mid-20th century, presented at court.
By the 1920s, some latitude had relaxed the rules of the debut and, by then, the debut had migrated across oceans to America and Australia. After World War II, the debutante ball spread broadly and enjoyed a heyday during many conservative years. A decade later, anti-establishment sentiment led many young women of even the most affluent status to abandon the event, dismissing it as anachronistic snobbery.
Notwithstanding anything that might have changed over the years, one rule has not changed; the debutantes dress. She used to wear a white gown, though a pastel shade may be considered acceptable. Loud colours or black have always remained inappropriate.
In Australia, and certainly in Katherine, the debutante ball has witnessed a popular resurgence. I have been to Katherine debutante balls for the past five years, and they had been running for some years prior to that. This year’s deb ball was an absolutely wonderful event! On the night, eighteen young ladies, with their partners, were presented to society in a beautiful ceremony. Our young ladies and partners were presented to me, as the member for Katherine, and my wife. Emerging from an arch of floral garlands and along a carpet of red, each lady dressed in white was presented with a sash as a symbol and memento of the evening.
How beautiful the young ladies of Katherine are! And dare I say it, how handsome the young men! Much effort was put into the evening by many people, including hours and hours of dance practice over months by the debs and their partners, much energy directed into home-stitched dresses, and the effort of a group of volunteers in putting the whole evening together. I pass on my personal thanks to all those who were involved in preparations for the 2011 ball.
The debutantes and their partners on 6 August this year were: Hayley Walker who was partnered with Michael Cottrell; a very nervous Megan Walker, who was with Jasper Bowman; Katy Jay, who was partnered with Geoffrey Ross; a lovely Kaitlin Talbot, who was partnered with Mitchell Johnston; Rachel Morrison, from a well-known family in Katherine, who was partnered with Gary Trembath; Brogen Begg, partnered with Simon Laird Barrington; Abbish Stimson, who came to the ball with Jack Lynch; Sarah Hopkins, who was partnered with John Bretten, one of the Katherine High School school captains; Jessie Robins, who was partnered on the night with Hayden Atkins; Rebecca Robins, who was partnered with another big local family member, Ben Fishlock; and Rachel Robins, who was partnered with Dean Callaghan.
It is no coincidence the last three young ladies’ surnames were Robins. They are Katherine’s famous triplets - not too many of them around. I have known these young ladies since they were born. Their parents are good and close friends of mine and my wife’s. We have known them since Mataranka days.
Continuing on with the debutantes, Gabrielle Read was partnered by Matthew Atkins; aspiring young actress, Hannah Gower, was partnered by Callan Horton; Madelyn Farrington was with Sam Carter; Taylor Matthews was partnered with Jamie Walker, another of our Katherine High School school captains; a lovely Tenisha Jacobs partnered by Zackarey Southern; Cody Festing came along on that night with Brandon Flynn; and last but not least, Jordan Bennett was partnered by Brendan Gower.
I pay tribute to the Katherine Times which produced a beautiful centre-page spread of photographs of our young debutantes and their partners. I seek leave to table this set of photographs from the Katherine Times
Leave granted.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank you colleagues. I wish those photos to be permanently recorded in the Parliamentary Record of the Northern Territory
I wholeheartedly congratulate the debutantes and their partners, and thank the parents, friends and family for their contributions to make the evening such a special event. I make the observation: if the 2011 debutantes and their partners are the future of Katherine and the Northern Territory, we are most certainly in good hands.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, honourable members.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak also of the 2011 Katherine Prize, which is a part of the event known as the Katherine Festival. It was held this weekend just gone, one of the many events that is part of the Katherine Festival. I will speak quickly about it. I am going to recognise the winners and those who were commended for their art work in this event.
First, I make mention of the 2011 Katherine Prize, Brian and Jeannette Lambert Art Acquisition Award which was won by Jan Milner Cole with a work titled Days End, which is described as a sunset on the Katherine River. It is where a moment of light was captured as the sun sets over the Katherine River, and a very beautiful piece of work. Congratulations to Jan.
The 2011 Katherine Prize, Dr Peter and Kathleen Short Craft Acquisition Award, went to Nicky Schonkala with a work titled A Walk in the Dark, which was hand-woven woollen textile, with reference to the mouse plague in Central Australia. Again, a beautiful piece of work showing the depth of talent inherent in the artistic community not only in Katherine, but right across the Northern Territory.
I also mention the commended artists. They were: Sandra Dunbar for a work titled Heliconias; Kevin Rogers for Savanna Giant; Cait Wait for Portrait of the Cycad NT; Jeannette Lambert with Passion Among the Palms; Helen Aland for her work titled The Katherine; and Kerryn Taylor, a very famous Katherine crafter, for her work titled Weathered Rock.
There are also the Somerville Youth Award winners and commendations. For the 13- to 14-year group, the winner was Taylah Locke. Commended were Summer French and Stella Hamlyn. For the older group, the 15 to 16 years, the winner was Tara Guempel-Crothers. Commended were Sarah Hopkins, Abbish Stimson and Taylor Matthews. In the 17- to 18-year group, the winner was Jacinta Phillips, with commended Georgia Knight, Keelan Fejo and Meaghan Pike.
I take a quick minute to say thank you to Mayor Anne Shepherd and the Katherine Town Council for their continued support; Brian and Jeannette Lambert, who provide the main prize for the event - thank you very much; Kathleen Short, the wife of the late Peter Short, for her ongoing support; Felicity Green, who came down from Darwin to do the judging; Dallas Panoho, who works for the council and puts in an enormous amount of effort for this; the ladies of the Katherine Country Music Muster Committee for providing the bar; the ladies from the Anglican Church for doing the food and, of course, Somerville for providing prizes on the night.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about a development in the Alice Springs CBD and the town, and to correct claims being made by the member for Araluen in her campaign to create media spin to the determent of Alice Springs.
Last week, the member for Araluen stood in this House and claimed that red tape is the reason a private developer has made a commercial decision to not proceed with the development of the old Melanka site:
- … all the bureaucratic red tape, the obstacles the planning department, DCA, this government, whoever is responsible, puts in front of developers ...
On behalf of the hard-working staff at the Department of Lands and Planning, I take offence to that statement and accusation because the member for Araluen is wrong.
If the member had taken the time to inform herself, she would know an exceptional development permit to allow this site to be developed was approved in March last year, almost 18 months ago - hardly a case of the department putting obstacles in the way. The approved development includes five five-storey buildings, 118 two- and three-bedroom residential and short-stay apartments, and a commercial floor area including a proposed licensed venue.
Late last year, the owner of the land applied to vary the layout of the development because of sacred trees on the site, and to reduce the number of units to 115. This variation was also approved - again no obstacles from the department or the Development Consent Authority. There is no red tape holding up this development. Planning approval has been in place for almost 18 months to allow the development of this site to commence.
It is a fact that developers are finding it difficult to get finance from the banks for major projects. This is the likely reason why the developer has made a commercial decision not to commence the Melanka redevelopment. Rather than being negative and falsely blaming the department and government for so-called red tape, which is simply incorrect, the member for Araluen should be promoting the town and the development of this prime site next to the CBD. The development approval is still in place, and any potential purchaser can proceed with that development.
This government wants to see Alice Springs continue to grow, and we have made some great gains since the Alice Springs Planning for the Future Forum. The forum led to an action plan, including reviewing the development control clauses for the CBD, the Alice Springs CBD revitalisation project, residential land release strategy, and south of The Gap infrastructure headworks. I commend the member for Stuart and the Alice Springs Mayor for their commitment to seeing this action plan roll out. A major outcome from the plan has been the start of the works to develop the new suburb of Kilgariff, including $13.5m from government for headworks to keep the land affordable.
We are also working with the community on the CBD revitalisation project and a review of the control clauses for the CBD, including height limits. To help, the member for Araluen should support the debate for increasing building heights and other planning and urban design initiatives that will help deliver more residential developments and revitalise the Alice Springs CBD, including community safety to innovative urban design principles.
Government has provided $5m for projects to revitalise the CBD, and the Chair of the Urban Design Advisory Panel and Department of Lands and Planning officers are finalising the project with the Alice Springs Town Council.
After 10 years of no land release, this government was able to negotiate with the native titleholders to develop land at Larapinta. The first stage of Larapinta produced 40 residential lots at Stirling Heights. The second stage of Larapinta at Ridges Estate was completed in 2009, and produced another 39 residential lots and one multiple dwelling lot for seniors public housing. The seniors village is currently being developed at Larapinta. This land release would not have occurred without our cooperative approach with the native titleholders.
Following the success of Larapinta, we negotiated a further agreement to see land developed at Mt Johns. The first stage is nearing completion and is expected to provide up to 90 new homes.
The member for Araluen continues to be negative about government. However, the government is supporting the town of Alice Springs, and we will continue to support the town and sustainable development.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I will quickly talk about two things. The first is about the crazy alcohol reforms in Alice Springs and across the Territory, and the inability of constituents to use their firearms licences as identification.
To obtain a firearms licence, you have to go through a process including a test. The firearms licence is authorised by Northern Territory Police. It includes your name, date of birth, licence number, licence type, firearm classes, issue date, expiry date, condition codes, and licence reasons. I call on the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing to allow the firearms licence to be included as an authorised form of identification for the purposes of purchasing alcohol in the Northern Territory.
I also rise to the defence of the member for Araluen - not that the member for Araluen cannot speak for herself. The commentary by the member for Barkly just then, attacking the member for Araluen for standing up for Alice Springs and wanting the Melanka site to be redeveloped, was pretty poor. If he really was committed to developing Alice Springs, he would have made sure the CBD revitalisation plan and the $5m package promised at the 2008 election would be in place and the works would have been constructed.
If we start seeing things like that, we start seeing crime addressed in Alice Springs, then people who own places like the Melanka site would start to redevelop. As the member for Macdonnell calls it, KFC crossing, the intersection where the Melanka block and KFC are is where all the crime is. It is pretty hard to develop a block that is devaluing because of the continual crime that occurs every summer.
This government has failed to address crime, revitalise the CBD or the height limit restrictions. So, to come here with some backhanded slap towards the member for Araluen, I take particular umbrage at and find completely offensive. The member for Araluen is right in standing up - and I join with her - and saying the Melanka site should be redeveloped.
Get on and do the job. You have done your consultancy reports. You have spent years of inertia standing back doing nothing about the CBD and crime. We want to see a progressive Central Australia that includes development, so pull your finger out, get on with the job and start developing the town!
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I address some of the comments made by the Minister for Lands and Planning. Minister, why has 2 ha of vacant land in the CBD of Alice Springs appeared in the last 10 years during your reign? Where is the money we have been hearing promised for the revitalisation of the Alice Springs CBD for at least the last six years that I am aware of?
I blame the government for the lack of development in the CBD of Alice Springs; I do not blame the good employees of the Department of Lands and Planning. I blame the minister and the government. They have much to answer for in the lack of consistent commitment they have demonstrated to the town of Alice Springs over the last 10 years.
I also tonight talk about a case that occurred on 3 August 2011, of a boy accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in a public park in Alice Springs. This is a very sad case which highlights an issue we do not hear much about. However, from the information given to me by various stakeholders within the child protection industry, the incidence of child perpetrators of sexual abuse is an increasing problem in our community and something that needs to be talked about publicly and openly, particularly for the families affected - the family of the child sexual perpetrator, and also the child victim of sexual assault.
This issue was raised today in a report in the media about a Western Australian case whereby a 15-year-old boy, placed under 24-hour supervision by the Department for Child Protection in Western Australia while facing allegations of rape of a four-year-old girl, has been accused of another rape of a child.
There is a need for the Northern Territory government to clarify for the community exactly what its policy is around managing children who are in the care of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Children and Families who demonstrate inappropriate sexual behaviour. What is the general case management plan for dealing with these very difficult children who, obviously, have major problems, as their behaviour is such that it has to be managed very closely? How are these cases managed in providing protection for other children who may be subjected to the potentially dangerous behaviour of a child?
I was contacted by the family of the six-year-old victim of sexual assault last week and again early this week. They are not only concerned for the wellbeing of their six-year-old child who is, obviously, deeply affected by the sexual assault perpetrated by the 12-year-old boy in the care and protection of the CEO of the department; they also expressed their concern about this 12-year-old boy. This 12-year-old boy was in the care and protection of the Department of Children and Families and they were asking me what sort of supervision should this child have been getting as a child in that arrangement? Who would have been monitoring this child? What sort of mechanisms would have been in place to ensure they knew where the child was and what the child was doing?
I do not have answers to that, but the government does. The community of Alice Springs and, indeed, of the Northern Territory, deserves an explanation as to how they are managing what I understand to be the increasing numbers of child perpetrators of sexual abuse. It is a topic that is taboo; it is difficult to speak about. However, we must speak about it because it is very serious when we cannot allow our children to play in a public park for fear that another child might sexually assault them.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I call upon the government tonight to respond to some of the questions I have raised around the management of these children in the care and protection of the CEO of the Department of Children and Families - children who are exhibiting inappropriate sexual behaviour and committing sexual offences against other children.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak about the carbon tax tonight. I am intrigued, having watched the television tonight, as I sense a shift in the government’s position on carbon tax. To be fair to the government, it is important to point out at all stages the Chief Minister said, as early as February this year, the carbon plan must not shortchange Territorians. The government’s position has been that so long as Territorians are not negatively affected, the government would support carbon tax.
On 10 and 11 July this year, the Northern Territory government issued media releases welcoming the carbon tax and saying most Territorians would be better off. There was already a change of language at that stage. Now, it does not shortchange Territorians, it is just what most Territorians should be. The position of the Chief Minister was then to simply say:
- The price impact in the Territory will be lower than the rest of the country as gas used in the Territory is a much cleaner source of energy - that should provide a welcome relief to Territory families.
He went on to say:
- … the proof is in - based on the figures we have seen – on average families will be better off under the scheme.
Then he talked about some of the elements of the carbon tax.
On the news tonight, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory seemed to be changing his position, because questions he has been avoiding in this House in relation to diesel and the cost of getting material here and those types of things, was a question he was forced to deal with by one of the local television stations. He seemed to prevaricate, to say the least, on that issue, defaulting to the original position: ‘Oh, well, if it is going to be bad for Territorians then we would not support it’.
The Chief Minister has an interesting position on this, in that in February he warned if it is bad for Territorians he would not support it. Then, on preliminary Treasury figures, he embraced it. Now, he seems to be stepping away from it again. The indication is the Chief Minister is aware of something that will have a deleterious effect on Territorians in relation to the introduction of the carbon tax.
Northern Territory Treasury has now had an opportunity to model the carbon tax more comprehensively for the Northern Territory. I ask the Chief Minister to table the comprehensive modelling done by Northern Territory Treasury because I suspect it is telling him Territorians will be worse off under a carbon tax. He is duty bound to fully disclose the impact as described by Northern Territory Treasury.
If it does demonstrate Territorians are better off, then so be it! However, as all members in this place know, diesel fuel is a very common fuel for the movement of goods in the Northern Territory. Whilst the petrol at our bowsers may be exempt from carbon tax, diesel fuel for road transport and heavy transport is not! It will be subject to carbon tax.
The other thing we need to address is carbon tax will not be paid by the so-called top 500 companies - which is another furphy, but we will not go into that now - carbon tax will be paid for by the consumers who use those top 500 company products. This means the power consumers in the Northern Territory will pay the tax. The government will argue rebates are available for taxpayers on low incomes so, essentially, this is a tax in the same nature of a wholesale sales tax, pre-GST time, being passed on to consumers, who, if you are in the higher income brackets, will be the people who pay the tax. The fact is, those people who are in those higher income brackets will be slugged. This is a good old Labor policy: tax the rich, give to the poor, and create a humongous bureaucracy in the process to manage the thing.
However, I digress and return to the issue at hand which is this: if Treasury modelling is complete, I call upon the Chief Minister to make that modelling fully available and disclose it to the people of the Northern Territory so they can determine whether or not they are better off under a carbon tax. I suspect the price on the shop shelf will eat up very quickly any rebate, or leftover rebate, after the amount of money has been set aside for the consumption of power.
The government has given some numbers in relation to power consumption. I cannot find it, but that does not really matter. The effect is power consumption will consume the largest slice of that rebate - and who knows how long that rebate will last. Then, the rest of it will go to other produce. It is that other produce I suspect will not only eat up the rebate, but push all taxpayers in the Northern Territory into the extra tax burden.
It is easy for the Chief Minister to prove my suspicions wrong. I invite him to do so in this House today and demonstrate his open, honest and accountable nature by laying on the table the full and complete Treasury modelling on the Northern Territory carbon tax.
Tonight, I also speak about an issue in my electorate. I remain concerned about the condition of Larrakeyah school - where my two daughters attend school - in relation to road safety, particularly in the Temira Crescent area, but also paying attention to the Packard Street entrance. Packard Street is where the front entrance to Larrakeyah Army Barracks is and, at 8 am is a very busy place indeed. People are going to work on the military base, mums and dads are dropping off kids, and people are trying to get out of driveways and side streets. It is time to have a good close look at what happens there because I get nervous watching the number of kids crossing the road in the Packard Street area being exposed to what is an unreasonable amount of traffic. There are no traffic control devices in the area. On the other side of the oval, Temira Crescent, whilst most of the local traffic is quite reasonable, from time to time the young men who train and play cricket, particularly visiting teams, tend to use Temira Crescent as a place where land speed records have to be set in V8 utes.
I have had representations from local residents in relation to those issues, and continue to get representations. I have surveyed the residents in the area, and it is clear there is a deep concern amongst many residents about the safety of children in that particular area - not just me and my children and the rest of the children of the school, but more generally.
This is also a concern of the excellent Principal of Larrakeyah Primary School, Graham Chadwick, a man who has a ‘Mr Chipping’ quality to him in how he mentors and looks after the kids at that school. He, too, is concerned about these matters. I urge government to look at this issue closely and set about rectifying it on both sides of the school. I would hate to see an outcome at that school which would be a replay of the tragic death of Aidan Bott at another school in Darwin. Whilst it was not a traffic issue in that case, I know how seriously such a death affects a school, and I certainly do not want to see that happening at Larrakeyah or, for that matter, any other primary school.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I speak about a recent self-funded trip I made in conjunction with a gentleman who has become a very good friend of mine, John Moyle, a tireless worker for the community raising money for numerous charities. John Moyle is a 92-year-old gentleman and is the type of person I would like to be when I am 92. He is sprightly and intelligent, has a spring in his step, has all his faculties, and is looking forward to his 100th birthday. He is the sort of person we would all aspire to be when in our 90s.
Sadly, 18 years ago, John’s wife, Myrtle, passed away and, with that passing, a dream of his also went; to go to Gallipoli for the Dawn Service. John just got on with his life. He continued to work for the community - he has been an Apexian for about 65 or 70 years. After he returned from World War II, he joined Apex and has remained in that organisation ever since, giving great service to whichever community he chose to live in. He was the founding President of the Albany Apex Club, and did many great things in Albany such as facilitating a memorial drive to the top of Mt Clarence, where there is a monument to the Light Horse from World War I that was recovered from the Suez Canal after the Egyptians cut it down and pushed it into the canal.
John always dreamt about going to the Dawn Service at Gallipoli and, over a couple of discussions, I realised this was going to be something he needed a bit of a helping hand with. It was with great pride that I facilitated the trip. We co-shared the cost of it but, at 92, to fly around the countryside, go on these trips - many people were requesting someone accompany John. John lives on his own. He has family members interstate but he chooses to live in the Northern Territory because he believes it is probably the greatest place in Australia.
We went off to Gallipoli and, on arrival, were met by some people - none other than his grandson and granddaughter who, three weeks prior to the Dawn Service at Gallipoli this year, scraped enough dollars together and enough enthusiasm to decide as their grandfather was going to Gallipoli, it might be a good thing if they could get there. They pulled out all the stops and made sure they made it to Gallipoli. Not only did they get to Gallipoli, they convinced the tour people we were travelling with to get on the same bus. What an absolutely wonderful thing for a 92-year-old guy who has given a life of service to his community: to go to Gallipoli and have his grandchildren in the audience watching the proceedings.
We arrived and I had a small duty to perform. On behalf of the people of the Northern Territory and the Northern Territory parliament, I had to lay a wreath at the Lone Pine service, which is the Australian service held at about 10 am at Lone Pine. The Australian Embassy in Turkey did an incredible amount of work. My thanks go to Sarah Kelly from the Australian Embassy in Istanbul who worked tirelessly to facilitate a number of things, such as for John to lay a wreath at the Dawn Service at Gallipoli, and also at the Lone Pine service. It was very interesting, because they worked on a number of other things.
However, going to the Dawn Service as a VIP, he was treated in a way he was not quite used to at a military event. His days in Papua New Guinea, in Milne Bay and the surrounding islands, during the war were a little different. He was treated as a VVIP - a very, very important person. He was the oldest returned serviceman at the Dawn Service and, accordingly, was given a number of roles which were very important.
When we arrived at the Lone Pine service, we received a phone call from his son in Melbourne, who was at home watching the Dawn Service at Gallipoli. He got the surprise of his life when he saw his father laying the wreath. You can only imagine the pride that John’s son, Daryl, felt. John found out that not only were his grandkids able to see that, but his son was able to see it on national television. I am very grateful to the Australian Embassy for doing that.
The proceedings are they take you from a hotel in anakkale which is on the Asian side of Turkey, and you travel across the Dardanelles. There were five VIP buses. You are taken to be seated at the front where the proceedings take place, and that was great. The VIPs were then taken from the Dawn Service to a small breakfast at a nearby hotel. It was there we met and sat with the New Zealand contingent there for the Anzac Day Service. We got to sit next to the head of Defence for New Zealand, a gentleman by the name of Lieutenant General Rhys Jones. I have met many military people in my time, and I have to say Lieutenant General Rhys Jones was right up there with down-to-earth people who are not pretentious. They, obviously, knew what their job was and got on and did it in their lifetime, but are very down-to-earth, warm people.
We shared some time and some stories with them. They were so impressed with John they made him an Honorary Warrant Officer of the New Zealand Army. Apparently, when you are chief, you can do that on the spot. They gave him several medallions to keep and invited him, through the Embassy, to lay a wreath at Chunuk Bairwhich is the memorial to the New Zealanders and the highest point on the Gallipoli Peninsula the Allied Forces achieved.
After breakfast, we went to the Lone Pine Memorial Service where we laid wreaths. On the way, we checked out a number of cemeteries. Once that service was over, we moved up to Chunuk Bair where so many New Zealanders were killed. It is interesting because there is a beautiful monument to the New Zealanders and, probably not 7 m or 8 m away, is a monument to Mustafa Atatrk, the hero of the Turkish side of the Gallipoli campaign. Only about 5 m or 6 m away from the other one, the New Zealanders and the Turks both accept it is appropriate that on top of that hill both those monuments are side by side. The reason they do so is because that is about how far they were from one another for much of the fighting that occurred. They were literally within shouting distance and could lob hand grenades from one trench to the other. So, it is very fitting.
Once we left Chunuk Bair, we went to the Turkish memorial for Turkish troops who fought and died in the Gallipoli campaign defending their homeland. That was very moving. Both sides fought gallantly.
It was such a pleasure to take a gentleman who has given so much to his country, who fought for his country, who has survived not only the war, but the years. He has fond memories of those he served with. It was a pleasure to give him the ability to fulfil his lifelong dream and have the pleasure of laying three wreaths in front of so many of his national country men and women on national television.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Deputy Speaker, there are two things I want to talk about tonight. The first is quite an exciting thing for me and something the member for Daly might share as a local member. It is the award of Northern Territory Animal Hero of the Year Award, which is a Northern Territory government animal welfare organisations award. This year, it goes to Lisa Hansen from PAWS animal shelter in Palmerston.
Lisa has, without doubt, been a tireless worker for animal welfare. She is somewhat different to others in that she is really about caring for animals that are lost - not one of these extreme activists; she is a realist. She tries her best wherever she can. Not everything goes her way, but she is, without doubt, a true battler.
Those of you who go to the Mindil Beach Markets or the Palmerston Markets should be used to seeing the PAWS tent with the various ladies and gentlemen who help out the PAWS organisation and the shelter. You will see Lisa and Mousie and several other of Lisa’s friends; namely, other dogs that will do tricks for you, in many cases, if you give them a little donation - very cute. It is a very practical way to raise profile and funds.
I commend Lisa; she was shocked when she received the Northern Territory animal hero award. She only found out the other day. She is such a deserving winner of that award; she has worked tirelessly. She has given every part of her life to looking after animals. Sometimes, I worry she gives too much.
I know the member for Daly would share similar comments because he comes to the Palmerston Markets occasionally, and I know he has some involvement. It is really fantastic to see him supporting PAWS.
Well done to Lisa and her crew - particularly Lisa. She instantly wanted to pass off all the accolades to her crew, which is a great example of who Lisa is. However, she is the one who drives it all and she should be proud.
The other thing I mention is the fires that have been happening in the Alice region. Many know I have been involved in off-road racing and raced the Finke and various other events. I am involved at the Mt Ooraminna Race Track, otherwise known as Orange Creek. I want to read an e-mail I received today sent to all the members of the Alice Springs Off Road Race Club. It is from Bill Yan - or Yanni - the president of the club, and it relates to those fires:
- Hi everyone, as most are aware there have been some significant fires in the area over the last few days that originated out towards Hermannsburg and managed to make it all the way on to Orange Creek.
Things were looking okay yesterday at around 11 pm but a shift in the wind pushed the fire front into the club at around 2.30 in the morning.
The Control Centre let me know of this at around 3.15 am and that Dawsy Debney from Bushfires and a crew were around the club area to keep an eye on our facility and to control the fire where they could.
Bob …
… has been down to the club to check things out and has let us know that there has been no damage, we are a little ‘black around the edges’ but otherwise okay.
A big thank you goes out to Dawsy and the Bushfires people who worked through the night, also to Wild Wayne Callinane who clean up around the club prior to the Sporties 12 hour, without their help it might have been a different story.
Orange Creek has borne the brunt of this latest fire and any support from our members to them I believe would be greatly appreciated. I urge all members that if you are able to help out in any way to please contact them.
Also Deep Well and Undoolya are under threat from these fires and would be appreciative of any assistance, again please contact Richie or Billy.
Cheers
Billy Yan.
My sympathy goes out to the Orange Creek crew. We have had nearly two years of really good weather down that way where we have seen much rain and, subsequently, much feed, which then equates into a fuel fire load. Unfortunately, for those guys the worst has happened and they probably have lost most of their food stock for their cattle. They also agist cattle for other companies. Without having spoken with them, it does not sound good for Orange Creek, and I have no doubt there are other stations in the area that have been also severely affected.
It is a shame we go from one point where we have great feed, then step into cattle bans. We start to see a little light coming at the end of the cattle bans, to being hit with fires to wipe out what foods stocks are left in some of those areas. It must be breaking their hearts. I know the Orange Creek crew would not have let it go without fighting hard. They fought some fires earlier in the year which was set from the roadside again. Guys, keep your chins up - the Coultard family and Wally Farcombe - keep working hard; we are all with you and supporting you wherever we can.
It is obviously hard from this House to rip down the road and give you a hand, but I am sure the communities are very aware of things not being easy for you guys. On our side of the House, we are right behind you, supporting you, so keep your chins up and we will see you soon.
Motion agreed to, the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016