2013-10-10
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Years 3/4 and 5/6 students from St Andrew’s Lutheran Primary School, accompanied by their teacher Rachel Turpin. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House and I hope you enjoy your visit and your time with us today.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also draw your attention to the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of the member for Daly’s wife, Mrs Rhonda Higgins, and friends Barry Solento and Jean Compane. Welcome also.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I would like to say a few words in regard to the last two days of sittings. It is expected that debate in this House is robust, and so it should be with the importance of it, but it is equally important that respect be shown for the officeholders of this parliament, the electorates of this parliament, and the names of those electorates.
It is not necessarily the person sitting in the electorate, but the electorates in our parliament have all been named after very special people from the Northern Territory, or special places. I ask that you respect this when referring to members and their electorates.
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: It is quite a serious moment.
Mr TOLLNER: Of course it is.
Madam SPEAKER: I doubt the Fong Lim family would be amused by their name being disrespected.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Madam Speaker, you missed my point.
COMMUNITY HOUSING PROVIDERS (NATIONAL UNIFORM LEGISLATION) BILL (Serial 48)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr CONLAN (Housing): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
In the Northern Territory we have a small and developing community housing sector. While it may be small, it plays a critical role in meeting the housing needs of many Territorians. It is a role that is expected to expand considerably in the Territory over the next few years. Community housing organisations provide client focus services and support to their tenants. Community housing is delivered by non-government not-for-profit organisations that manage, own and/or develop affordable rental housing for people on low to moderate incomes, including people with high and complex support needs. Supporting the growth of this sector is consistent with our commitment to support Territorians in social housing.
A strong community housing sector can take pressure off the very costly public housing sector. Unlike the public housing system, the community housing sector can attract tax benefits and access Commonwealth rent assistance which substantially contributes to improved financial viability.
The purpose of the bill is to provide for a national system of registration, monitoring and regulation of community housing providers to be applied in the Northern Territory. The passing of the bill will apply the Community Housing Providers National Law, as set out in Appendix 1 of the bill, to the Territory.
Implementing this national law meets one of the priority items in the reform agenda set out in the National Affordable Housing Agreement which placed significant emphasis on the community housing sector as a key component of an integrated social housing system.
The national law aims to ensure the growth and development of the community housing sector is supported through a consistent regulatory environment. It will help to reduce the regulatory burden on housing providers working across jurisdictions, and provide a level playing field for providers seeking to enter new jurisdictions.
It is expected this law will bring national community housing providers with resources and expertise to the Territory to complement, support and, potentially partner, with our existing sector. The national law provides for:
a single national Register of Community Housing Providers
The views of community housing providers and non-government service providers in the Northern Territory were taken into consideration in the development of the national regulatory system. As part of a nationwide consultation, public forums were held in Darwin and Alice Springs in December 2011.
Further consultations were held in Darwin in August 2012. At these forums participates indicated broad support for the national regulatory system. Registration under the national system will be voluntary. However, Commonwealth, state and territory governments may make NRSCH registration a precondition for receiving funding or investment and for delivering funded housing services.
The introduction of the national regulatory system provides a framework to guide the future development of the community housing sector. The national system is tiered in recognition that community housing providers operate at different scales. This means there will be different levels of compliance required of providers depending on their size, scale, and complexity of their operations. Housing providers who choose to participate will be registered in one of three tiers:
Tier 1 represents the most sophisticated housing providers with asset procurement and development functions, and the ability to grow social and affordable housing supply through construction, purchase and acquisition, and/or complex tenancy and property management functions that operate at scale
Tier 2 includes housing providers typically involved in moderately complex asset and tenancy management activities
Tier 3 housing providers are typically involved in small-scale tenancy management activities.
This bill supports the growth and development of a vital part of the housing system of the community housing sector. It connects us nationally and applies a consistent environment for providers to operate across jurisdictions. This national regulatory system will facilitate investment in the sector by providing confidence in the governance of community housing providers, as registered providers will be required to meet the outcomes of the national regulatory code.
The national regulatory system will reduce red tape by minimising the regulatory burden for providers operating across multiple jurisdictions as regulation can be managed by a single lead registrar.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mrs PRICE (Statehood): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to amend the Constitutional Convention (Election) Act to prevent its expiry on 31 December 2013.
The previous Legislative Assembly endorsed the Constitutional Convention Election model recommended by the Statehood Steering Committee. In October 2011, the Eleventh Assembly passed the Constitutional Convention (Election) Act and agreed to defer implementation of the statehood program until a time to be decided by the government in the Twelfth Assembly. However, the provisions of the bill passed presumed the constitutional conventions would be held in 2012 and 2013 and provided for the expiry of the act at the end of 2013.
The proposed amendments seek to extend the life of the bill to facilitate implementation of the statehood program within a more flexible time frame. The bill amends the definition of ‘Constitutional Convention’ to mean the Statehood Constitutional Convention for the Territory, and removes the prior reference to dates. In addition, the bill seeks to repeal Part 9 Expiry of the Act.
The government remains committed to achieving statehood, and has already allocated funding for the re-establishment of an Office of Statehood within the Department of Legislative Assembly. In keeping with the long-standing bipartisan approach on this important issue, the government is considering a revised timetable from the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for the path to statehood.
Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 21 August 2013.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, thank you for pronouncing so accurately the name of the electorate of the people I represent.
Given so much of the bill we are about to discuss is about giving voices back to people in regional areas and in the bush, I cannot let the moment pass without making the comment about how on the one hand, the CLP talks about giving the voice to people, yet on the floor of this parliament this morning we saw a despicable act by the Chief Minister, closing down Question Time 15 minutes early. If this House is not about the voice of the Territory coming through from our constituents on all sides of the House, then I do not know what it is for. The Chief Minister is not interested in the voices of Territorians when he can make such a despicable move and is supported by his side.
Thankfully, not all on his side supported that, unbeknown to him, as he received a lecture from the Leader of the Opposition. Clearly, other members in the lobby room quickly rallied and decided to come in, tails between their legs, and allow Question Time to restart. We are pleased the government allowed Question Time to resume for 15 minutes. Giving Territorians a voice, whether it be through the Local Government Amendment Bill or the parliament, is their right. To any government, especially the CLP government which chose to shut that down, shame on you.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Local Government Amendment Bill, and I thank the minister’s office for the briefing I received last week. It is not quite the bill I was expecting, nor the bill many people out bush were expecting. It does not deliver on the pre-election promise of the CLP to ‘get rid of the shires’ – the ‘toxic shires’ as the current Chief Minster repeatedly labelled them from the opposition benches.
This bill does not break up shires or get rid of shires, toxic or otherwise, and falls a long way short of the changes and reforms the CLP talked up in the last four years and in the lead-up to the August 2012 election. In reality, it is yet another broken promise amongst the litany of broken promises for Territorians, especially those who live out bush.
Without a doubt, the promised reforms and the CLP’s view on what needed to be done have seen policy chopped, changed and backflipped, due in no small part to the turmoil and the personal feuds going on within the CLP’s ranks. In little more than a year, we have seen three ministers for Local Government. We had the member for Braitling, the current Chief Minister, who labelled the shires toxic and started a review process after the election. Then we had the member for Namatjira installed as Local Government minister in March after the member for Blain was deposed while away in Japan. The member for Namatjira had her own ideas about how the review process might look and distanced herself from the former minister, who she famously labelled a ‘little boy’. For her disloyalty – or was it for her incompetence? – she was dumped from Cabinet and relegated to the backbench where she sits today.
Then, only a few weeks ago, the portfolio was handed to the member for Fong Lim, who must have wondered what he had done wrong to pick up the Local Government portfolio. He inherited the reform process and a bill which has chopped and changed, even though we know he has no affinity with the bush, is on the record labelling communities as ‘hellholes’, and is a strong supporter of urban drift. It would suit the member for Fong Lim and the CLP not to deal with the complexities of service delivery for people who live out bush, but have them move to larger centres on the Stuart Highway.
In fact, it would probably suit them to see the whole of Nhulunbuy move to the Stuart Highway because they are not interested in supporting the township of Nhulunbuy and the region it serves. Having three ministers in little over a year does not serve the interests of Territorians and is unhelpful, to say the least, in delivering effective reforms in one of the most crucial areas of responsibility: local government.
The bill does not impact upon municipal councils and does little more than rebadge the shires – a name change from shire council to regional council, and local boards become local authorities. I acknowledge this bill endeavours to strengthen the rebadged local boards to local authorities, but how is it after what they claim to be extensive community consultations that on the eleventh hour we have amendments about who the chair of the local authority should be. I also note that much of the power rests with the minister for Local Government through guidelines which have only recently become available, not through the legislation itself. Of course, a major question mark which hangs over the new process is how this cry poor government proposes to fund these changes, notably, the cost associated with local authorities. I will come back to those issues.
It is important to look at the history of local government in the Territory and the recognition from both sides of this House. I include the member for Nelson in that mix. There was a need for change and a need to strengthen the local government sector, particularly in our remote areas. Change is needed to improve service delivery, and accountability and transparency about how services are delivered to residents.
During more than two decades in government, the CLP failed to address the deficiencies in local government in remote communities; they simply were not up to it. When Labor came to government in the historic win in 2001, there was a raft of issues that had been ignored by the CLP which had to be addressed, including the state of local government and community government councils.
Mr Elliot McAdam, the former member for Barkly who held the Local Government portfolio for Labor, summed it up when he addressed LGANT in March 2006:
I acknowledge some community government councils worked effectively and honestly to deliver services, but the majority did not and had to be changed to ensure there was accountability, transparency and, importantly, democratic representation.
Democratic representation is at the core of the three tiers of government, but we know in the old community government council model that was not always the case. Often it was those people who held status and, with it, power, who were the decision-makers.
The editorial in the NT News on 28 January this year said:
I also note the member for Namatjira was a supporter of Labor’s reforms in the days she sat within Labor’s ranks. Indeed, when she spoke in support of Labor’s local government reform bill on 7 May 2008 she said:
That is fine praise from the member for Namatjira for Labor’s reforms.
Labor’s reforms to local government, which were passed in 2008, saw shires come into being on 1 July 2008, just before my arrival into the role of elected member for Nhulunbuy.
The changes were significant and challenging, but let us not forget the changes were also swept up in the mix of the federal government’s intervention into the Northern Territory under the Northern Territory Emergency Response legislation just 12 months before the introduction of shires.
When we talk about local people losing their voices, that is where we go – John Howard, Mal Brough and the Liberal government sending the Army to the Northern Territory with no notice and no advice to people who saw Army trucks rolling into their communities, fearful this was another episode of the Stolen Generation. Some communities hid their children, and people in those communities were labelled and shamed as drunks, purveyors of pornographic material and abusers of children, with special measures imposed on their communities in which they had no say.
If we are talking about the voices of people, let us not forget what the role of the federal Liberal government’s intervention in 2007 imposed upon the Northern Territory and people in our remote areas, predominantly Indigenous people.
I know the difficulties of bedding down local government reforms, and some shires have had better success than others since their commencement in 2008. I know the West Arnhem Shire has had its difficulties. The former member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, spoke about her frustrations as a local member trying to see the West Arnhem Shire strengthen and function effectively for the benefit of all its residents.
Progressively, many of the shires have grown and strengthened under locally-elected members of shire councils and the relationship with the people in the communities they are elected to represent. Taking the voice and concerns of those people to the executive has seen strong and positive representation and growth. That includes growth around strengthening governance as to how these local government councils operate.
Debate suspended.
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, in the lead-up to the election, the member for Blain, as Leader of the Opposition, announced at Maningrida on 24 July 2012 that there would be regional councils where there was support of the majority of residents in a region – mind you, we do not know what constitutes a region – business modelling that supports financial sustainability, and shires and regional councils would be supported to pursue new business activities to expand their service and revenue base.
Following the Maningrida announcement the ABC reported:
Without a doubt, the CLP pre-election took this message to the bush about breakaway councils, and there were a number of promises made. Within my own electorate of Nhulunbuy, the CLP candidate had declared Elcho Island, or Galiwinku, should be entitled to its own regional council, not simply a ward of the East Arnhem Shire. Indeed, if that is what that community desires then all power to them.
The other promise was in the electorate of Arnhem, with separate councils for each community. In the seat of Daly, there was the promise of the return to community councils, including for the large community of Wadeye to have its own regional council. We know from an announcement on 17 August 2012 at Borroloola that the CLP supported a local land council and the establishment of a regional council, along with a swag of other promises in the contract signed with members at Borroloola by the leader of the CLP at that time, the member for Blain. We know in the seat of Stuart there were promises of breaking up the Central Desert and the Vic Daly Shires, and in the electorate of Namatjira the promise of breaking up shires and the establishment of new and smaller regional councils.
It was a slightly different story post-election when the new CLP dismantled the task force which had been established under former Labor Local Government minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, which had been pulled together to review the shires. The CLP established its own task force called the Regional Governance Working Group with a cross-section of interested stakeholders appointed by the minister to consider and develop an options paper for the way forward for local government.
However, in the meantime, the CLP was also sending very mixed messages about exactly what their plans were. It was reported on the ABC on 22 November that Terry Mills, then Chief Minister, had said after a meeting with the Territory’s four Aboriginal land councils that the system of shires had failed and would be replaced. The member for Braitling, as Minister for Local Government, on 22 November 2012 on ABC radio said:
On 13 March 2013 the member for Braitling said:
That is not what this bill presents today. That is not what is in this bill flagged by the former Chief Minister and the current Chief Minister. The current Chief Minister previously had carriage of local government matters.
With the passing of the local government baton to the member for Namatjira, we had from the minister – who once famously stated people had been consulted to death – a round of Territory-wide consultations. The feedback I received from those consultations – and I saw it in my electorate – was that the meetings were poorly advertised, often poorly attended, and many people got a strong sense the government had a predetermined idea of what it wanted to do with local government and shires. Other feedback from people who attended meetings was that this consultation process would deliver a rebadging exercise, and the government had no money to do anything else. You can imagine how disappointed people were to receive those messages.
I also had feedback from two people who were members of the Regional Governance Working Group. There was a decline in attendance of members of the Regional Governance Working Group from when they were established in November 2012 to their last meeting in June 2013. I do not have the document with me, but out of the estimates process the minister provided me with a list of attendees. Clearly, attendance had dropped from around 21 members at the beginning and, at the last meeting in June, only 11 members of the Regional Governance Working Group attended.
I take that to mean people lost interest in the process once they realised the government had a pre-determined idea of which way they wanted to go. The breakup of the shires was not an option, and only two options were presented.
The final report on the options came as a great disappointment to many, with a number of people and organisations seeing option one as pretty much the existing model with a new name – essentially, a rebadging. Option one is the path the government has chosen to go down. Option two is not regional councils but regional authorities.
The report notes there were 32 submissions, and some of the submissions are quoted in the final consultation report. If they were available on the website they were extremely well hidden. I have not been able to obtain or read all of them, but I did get hold of a selection by making direct contact with the authors to see what people had to say. Some interesting points and arguments were raised, and I would like to visit some of those. The Central Land Council put in a submission. I will not read it all, but of the five recommendations it put forward number two was:
The third recommendation said:
The Barkly Shire Council put in a submission. Its opening statement begins with:
I refer to the speech made by Elliot McAdam, the Local Government minister at the time.
The Barkly Shire indicates in its executive summary:
I do not think anybody would disagree with that aspect. In regard to option one, Barkly Shire Council made the observation:
There is a brief submission from the East Arnhem Shire, but I am sure any submission is welcome. It is all about people having the opportunity for their voice to be heard is it not?
The submission from East Arnhem Shire, and shire president Banambi Wunungmurra, opens with:
Being the local member for about half the East Arnhem Shire Council communities, I know that to be true.
He goes on to say:
As shadow for Local Government, I have endeavoured to make contact with those in the local government sector and with some of the shires, not all of them. I have had a strong sense that government has not done everything it could to engage with the shires, the CEOs and the elected members. While they have consulted widely, I believe the sector has been overlooked. I was surprised when I spent some time in Katherine in July and had the opportunity to meet, not for the first time, the CEO of the Victoria Daly Shire, Mr Stuart Duncan. He has had much contact with government about local government reforms and the matters associated with the Victoria Daly Shire. By contrast, when I had the opportunity to meet the CEO of Roper Gulf Shire in Katherine in July, I was surprised to learn that neither the local member, not the Minister for Local Government – at that time we were at number two – had made contact with the Roper Gulf Shire. They had had no meetings with the CEO, the president or the mayor of that shire, and no meeting with elected councillors.
When the Education minister says it is a tough gig getting to all the schools in the Northern Territory but he is trying – we are talking about eight shires. If the first Minister for Local Government in the first few months could not manage to get around to shires, you have to ask what was going on. We were chipped at the LGANT Conference in February by an elected councillor from the Tiwi Shire that he had yet to meet with members of the Tiwi Shire Council, despite him knowing the Local Government minister and the Chief Minister had made a few visits to the Tiwi Islands, albeit not to the Tiwi Shire Council but the Tiwi Land Council.
Having read from the letter of the East Arnhem Shire, I get a sense that the level of engagement with the third tier of local government in the Northern Territory and our shires, to an extent, has been snubbed in this process.
I do not have the MacDonnell Shire submission. It was to be e-mailed to me and I have not received it yet. However, I had a good phone conversation recently about the issues for MacDonnell Shire, feedback around these reforms, and about how it is logistically, practically and financially that MacDonnell Shire can afford to pay for their 13 boards which will become authorities for more than 100 meetings a year across an area of 249 000 km.
Given MacDonnell Shire cannot get operational funds out of the Northern Territory government to open its three pools this summer at Areyonga, Santa Teresa and Kintore, it will not surprise you to learn they are wondering how they are expected to pay for a new layer of bureaucracy within their shire structure. While financial sustainability of shires is a critical issue, which is why Labor commissioned and welcomed the Deloitte report, how the cost of the CLP’s reforms will be met is unanswered by this government.
Also, the other implication for MacDonnell Shire is its 13 boards currently meet, on average, three times a year. I am told it is workable for the boards and the shire to program in those three meetings a year but they will, under this new legislation and guidelines, be forced to have a minimum of six meetings a year involving much more organising, more cost, and a lot more of people’s time, admittedly being paid for which is fine, but not necessarily where this shire may want to be spending money.
Quite apart from funding the rebadged boards – I do not begrudge community representatives on boards or authorities receiving sitting fees – we know people suffer meeting fatigue in these communities. There seem to be constant rounds of consultations and duplication of groups of people. The idea of having one ‘go to’ group of people, whether they are a board or an authority, is sensible. It also means people need to plan ahead to visit communities so they can fit in with the board or authority rather than the other way around.
The other thing this flags is how much is local government responsibility if much of the agenda is beyond local government? There might be a group of people from some federal government agency – FaHCSIA – to discuss whatever the issues might be, but local government seems to be the one-stop shop for everything. You have to ask why local governments need to fund these meetings if people are meeting to discuss education – perhaps the cuts to teachers in their schools. That would be a very popular agenda item in some of our bush schools at the moment. While the opposition does not oppose sitting fees, it seems to be putting the cart before the horse.
There will also be enormous costs associated with the rebadge from shire councils to regional councils across eight shires. Think of all the corporate logo changes and redesigns from employee uniforms to badging on vehicles, to stationery and everything else that goes with a changeover. The costs have to be massive.
Look across other agencies which, in the last 12 months, have been on the merry-go-round of agency name changes. I was at Yirrkala Homeland School a few weeks ago for a morning tea and admired a smart navy blue blouse one of the admin ladies was wearing. It was embroidered in white with the Northern Territory government logo and beneath it had, ‘Department of Education and Children’s Services’. They had received the shirts the day after the last reshuffle which saw the Department of Education returned to a stand-alone agency. We had a chuckle about the fact the new uniforms had just arrived and had already dated.
There was also a submission from Darwin City Council, again very brief, just a one-page letter, acknowledging, through the minister, they had looked at the options paper. I have highlighted one sentence from Mayor Fong Lim’s letter to minister Anderson. It states:
Very good words of advice there from Mayor Fong Lim, which have not been taken on board.
Even the President of the MacDonnell Shire, Mr Sid Anderson, was quoted in Alice Springs media on 2 July 2013. He said communities were pleased with his shire’s work, but he would be happier if the body called itself something other than ‘shires’. This is what he said:
The issue of how these costs would be addressed was mentioned in the member for Namatjira’s media release on 12 August 2013, ‘Local voices in local authorities’. At that time, it was heralded by the member for Namatjira, who was then the Local Government minister, as the greatest achievement of the CLP since coming into government the year before – an achievement so great the Chief Minister was not there beside her. In fact, he was in Maningrida that day.
In the media release the member for Namatjira said:
Presenting stage two reforms to Cabinet by January 2014 – assuming the new Local Government minister takes it on board – is surely doing things back to front. Why is there no mention from the minister – any Local Government minister; we are now on our third one – of the Deloitte report into financial sustainability of the shires and their decision to proceed and implement the remedial actions outlined in that report?
Do we take it stage three will be a review of boundaries? How will that review occur? Will we see yet another round of consultations? Will the Regional Governance Working Group be brought back for that? What will the time frame be? Let me guess: pre-2016 election, timed so the CLP government can make more election promises which, like the last election promises, they do not intend keeping.
The amendments dropped on our desks this morning highlight that the CLP does not have these reforms right, nor the legislation, with amendments at the eleventh hour.
In the brief second reading speech to this bill delivered on 21 August by the then Local Government minister, the member for Namatjira stated:
Minister, you got it wrong; that is not what people wanted. So much for all the crowing about consulting and listening to people. They do not want you to appoint the chair who would be an elected member, they want to have the power to appoint or, in the view of the member for Nelson, elect, which is probably preferable, their own chair. Hence, we have amendments to deal with in the committee stage.
The current Local Government minister, the member for Fong Lim, is not a well-known supporter of the bush. He will keep control of expenditure on the new councils so, as Treasurer, he can use savings where his real interests lie.
What we know about this government is what they say and what they do are often two different things. This is far from what the member for Namatjira described as the CLP’s finest moment after 12 months in government.
Shires have been rebadged as regional councils. They say, ‘We have listened and have met our promise’. Not so. What was promised was a breakup of the shires, regional councils with support of the majority of residents in a region, and business modelling to support financial sustainability. What we have is another broken promise, and a further promise of more work to come.
Minister Anderson had committed to a stage two full review into the financial sustainability and viability of regional local government in the Northern Territory, due in January 2014. I look forward to hearing from the minister when he wraps up this debate if that is still the plan.
He is Treasurer, and how do we know where these plans might go? In fact, does the Treasurer support the previous minister’s view when she said any further changes, such as boundaries, will follow as a result of this process, knowing changing boundaries and creating additional regional councils will bring with it, without a doubt, additional costs? How will decisions be made as to how boundary changes will work and where they will draw the line to say, ‘Sorry, you cannot have a regional council in that area’?
The CLP’s work on rebadging the shires has taken priority over the real financial sustainability challenges of local government in the bush – Structural issues, like building a better income base and support with roads and asset management. As one person said to me during the business of local government reform, the problem is not local government, it is more the dissatisfaction residents in areas have felt about how housing repairs and maintenance have been handled, given that sits with Territory Housing not local government. We are yet to see what plans and answers will come from the Treasurer, now our Minister for Local Government, on these issues.
What do we have? A result where the establishment of local authorities and their role lies in the hands of the minister with great discretion to change and amend arrangements by ministerial decree, because much of what happens is outlined in the guidelines that became available on the Internet only a few days ago.
We will see an additional financial and administrative burden on our regional councils or shires. Will we see the six to eight meetings a year that must be held across each local authority? Will those sitting dates be published and publicly available so people know when they are meeting?
Having more openness on how regional councils will spend their funds at particular locations is not a bad thing at all. In fact, good accounting practice was developing within each shire’s annual plans. An opportunity for local authorities and boards to make recommendations on expenditure of a nominal budget for their community or location is also a positive.
The opportunity for a local authority or board to participate in the development of shire regional council annual plans is a positive, and one already available to existing local boards, many of which have taken up that opportunity with vigour. When you look at stable shires with little employee turnover, and, similarly, where you have elected members who serve their term – in the MacDonnell Shire there has not been a single by-election since it was established, so every elected member has seen out their term. Whilst there has been a turnover of members, it is only as a result of two elections, not by-elections. There is a similar result in my electorate with the East Arnhem Shire. Sadly, there have been several by-elections as a result of an elected member passing away.
The East Arnhem Shire has also been effective because they have not had the turnover in staff and elected councillors. They have been able to build something sustainable and, within that, the governance structures and the capacity for people to know what their roles are, and the fact they have a voice at the table. That is an important voice feeding back through the channels what people from communities really want from their shire council, or regional council as it will now be.
Madam Speaker, the opposition supports stronger voices and representation. There are elements of this bill we support; however, in its current form it falls well short of expectation in the promises made. It certainly fails to address financial matters associated with implementation of the reforms. For these reasons, we have reservations and will not support this bill today. Thank you.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for a very well-researched speech on the problems we have with local government and what is being put forward today. I refer to the second reading of this bill where the minister said:
That is what this is about, yet the government said local government was toxic and needed big changes. That has not happened. I was a critic of the previous system and believed many communities lost the ability to have a meaningful say. I mention Nauiyu, Barunga and Beswick, and I presume there are other places. I support any moves to make that happen; however, in this case the government has not given shires a chance to look at the whole gamut of issues required before amending local government. This is a case of the cart before the horse.
You have said you will look, in stage two, at the viability and boundaries. Before doing that, you have added $720 000 to $1m in fees. If all the local authorities met 10 times a year and had between 10 and 14 members, that would cost local government $720 000 to $1m a year. You might say, ‘We will give them more money’. I know what that is like; I have been around long enough to know, ‘Yes, we will give you some money for the first couple of years and after that you are on your own’.
I have seen it with libraries. There will be a cost. You have burdened councils with a new cost knowing full well that if you read the document you put out at the beginning of the consultation in March this year, the Victoria Daly Shire made, in 2011-12, 4% from rates and charges, and Roper Gulf Shire made 2%. The issue for shires is raising revenue, and we have not gone down that path. We have said, ‘We need to look at this. Local authorities, here is the bill.’ We have not told them how they will pay that bill.
The big issue for councils is financial viability. Both Barkly and Darwin City Councils recognise that. I have not spoken to other councils, but you do not need to be Einstein because Deloitte says the same thing.
We are setting up new processes which have not been costed. I have only given you the sitting fees. We have travel allowance, and there will be a need for computers. The regional council will have to maintain the local authorities, which means more administrative costs for them. There is a range of things which will impact on the cost of running the councils. Has that been costed? Has the government said, ‘We understand it will cost this much money and we have processes in place to offset that’?
This sounds nice, and that is the problem with the local government amendment – it sounds nice. However, when you dig down a little deeper you realise it is not quite as simple as you make out, and that concerns me.
If you were fair dinkum about options in local government, why have only two options? Why not have a range of options? Why not have the Jack Ah Kit option of 24 local governments? I have heard that will cost too much in administration. Perhaps the government needs to look at why these councils need so much administration. If we have a Local Government Act so full of requirements that the basic core functions of looking after roads, rates, road reserves and rubbish requires people with $200 000-plus salaries and a huge amount of qualifications, we have moved the possibility of Aboriginal people having managerial power over their communities further away than ever.
We might have had faults with the previous community government council system, but local people had far more chance of being involved in management of those councils than they have now. We now have big councils with their centre away from the shire. Even if they are in the shire, they are at a town away from where the people are.
We did not even consider the boundary changes. If you set up local authorities, would it not be common sense to say, ‘Let’s look at the boundaries first’. If local government thinks the boundary should be a different shape and we might have more regional councils, there may not be a need for some local authorities. We have said, ‘These are the boundaries. There are 64 regional local authorities.’ That is more than the number of community councils we had previously.
That is why I say the cart before the horse. We should have looked at how councils can raise revenue. If that means looking at Aboriginal land, it should have been looked at. If it means we go to the Commonwealth government to see if Aboriginal land can be rated, that is what we do.
We should have given people the option of boundary changes. However, we gave them two options which are not really options. One is to have a local council or local authority. One has more power than the other and that is it. One will take on the bigger picture stuff, one the midrange stuff.
We have lost the plot. The issue for most people in local government is provision of local government services. Local government is about providing essential services. The previous government hiked all types of things on top of that; anything from Centrelink, post office, stores, gardens, but they are not essential services from a local government point of view.
We started off and local government became involved. You would have to talk to the councils to see if they believed it was fantastic or not. Instead of saying, ‘Let’s start at the beginning and get councils on the road with the core functions’, we gave them other responsibilities. That has not changed here. The minister can tell a regional council to do this and that. That should not be the case until they get their core functions in order - the roads are okay with no potholes and are up to standard, the place is tidy, the grass is cut, the rubbish is picked up, the cemetery is okay, and the rubbish dump is being looked after. That is what local government is about. Once you get those working properly, if you have sufficient funds you can take on other roles. Again, not much of that is discussed here.
However, I raise a small matter, minister. You changed the name to regional councils, and in parliament recently you said, ‘We have removed shires’. You have not because clause 7(1) of the bill, under section 9(1)(b), says:
You have not removed shires. None might exist, but you have not removed them. Why have you bothered to change the name? The member for Nhulunbuy raised a great point. I told you how much it will cost to run local authorities. Here is the Barkly Shire with its nice logo. It changes to Barkly Regional Council so that all goes out the door. I venture they will have to change every signpost throughout a council one-and-a-half times bigger than Tasmania. There is a cost. I ask the minister, what need was there to change that name? Was it thought up by someone in the department? Who thought of ‘regional’? Regional, in most other places, means a group of councils have come together as a regional council. If a bunch of shires in Queensland get together they call them a regional council. For some reason, we have dug up a name when there was no need to change it. We could have called it a shire with local authorities. There are no other shires; these are the only ones. Why change the name? You have added another cost to the process.
Of all the things councils are struggling with, it is the viability of the council. You need to go no further than the Deloitte report to tell you that. We have superficial changes. ‘Look what we have done, we have changed the name.’ What does that mean? Does it make any difference to whether the rubbish is picked up, the road is straight, the cemetery is being looked after, or the rubbish dump is not burning? No, it does not. It just adds another cost and another name. It is cosmetic and does not mean anything.
My concern is that when this went out for consultation, local government was not given enough options, even if the options were unlikely to happen. You could have asked, ‘Do you want to return to community government councils?’ That is an option. ‘Do you want to look at the Jack Ah Kit model of 24 councils?’ That is an option. ‘Do you want to look at serious boundary changes?’ We might have reached 10 or 11 councils.
For instance, I understand Lajamanu is in the Central Desert Shire Council, 1000 km from Tobermorey. It does not make much sense to me if you are trying to run a local council. One is nearly on the Western Australian border and the other is just about on the Queensland border, yet it is just down the road from Kalkarindji and Daguragu, both in the Vic Daly Shire. Those things should have been discussed before we went down this path. We should have been looking at boundary changes, then looked at local authorities to match the boundary changes. The logic to me is silly and the wrong way around.
I am not against the government saying there should be reform; there should be. I am on the record saying these councils are far too big. The top of the amendments says ‘local government’. If you want a definition of local, it is not Tobermorey versus Lajamanu. That is halfway across the continent. Local means local. We have lost that, and the reason we want to bring the community back into the decision-making process is in the beginning – I do not blame the present government; I disagreed with what the previous government was doing – we took out the local. We could have had smaller councils not requiring lots of local authorities.
We should have worked out how this could be done with a local feel about it that worked on the ground and related to where roads met. People say we need councils connected by cultural affiliations or language. We are picking up rubbish, fixing roads and looking after the tip. This is not about culture. It is about delivery of essential services for human beings living in a community. It should be done on a practical basis because there is a cost, and sometimes we get the airy-fairy people with great ideas. That is fine, but a council should be as cost-efficient as possible to deliver essential services every person in the community has a right to, regardless of whether they are white or black, or speak one language or another language. That should be what local government is about.
We should have looked at the boundaries first. If you go back to stage two and look at the boundaries, what happens if a review means more councils and smaller communities? Will you get rid of some of the local authorities? Are they a waste of money? Again, things are back to front.
The idea of a local authority has merit; do not get me wrong, I know what you are trying to do. People say they have lost control over their lives and do not have the input they should. The principle I can live with, but I would be much happier if, before we went down this expensive path, we fixed the boundaries and the viability. This is a silly piece of legislation. It has positives, but they are before their time and the government has it the wrong way around.
Issues have been raised by other councils and spoken of by the member for Nhulunbuy. I also have copies of that. Barkly Shire, the largest shire in the Northern Territory and bigger than Tasmania said:
This is exactly what I said. This is coming from the horse’s mouth; the people in the business. It makes you wonder if when the government consulted it really cared, or was this a predetermined arrangement. The paper goes on:
That could not be any clearer, and they are dead right. Whilst the government might say, ‘We will pay for local authorities for the first few years’, if you have 14 members in each authority and they meet 10 times a year, it will cost between $720 000 and $1m in sitting fees. That money should be spent on providing services. That is what Barkly is saying. The government might say, ‘We are providing that money’ but three years down the track it will not be there. Governments take money away when they feel like it, and these councils will have to find the money for sitting fees.
I would prefer the government to drop this legislation at present and bring forward stages two and three so you have an overall approach to local government reform. This is, taking a small bit and applying it before you have finished the complete picture. You do not even know what the complete picture is.
Rates are a big issue. Revenue raising for local shires in the Northern Territory is one of the main issues Deloitte raised because you cannot rate Aboriginal land. Some money will come from NT government housing in lease payments, but the major landowner in communities is not rateable.
Should that be changed by law, or should the federal government pay what would normally be rates? They do that with the Department of Defence. Land owned by the Commonwealth, especially the Department of Defence, will pay councils money in lieu of what they would have received if the land had been rateable.
Whilst that might be good for the council’s budget, it does not really teach people that they pay rates because they are part of a shire which will provide essential services. Otherwise, someone else is doing it and you have no idea and could not care less. Paying rates makes you part of the shire and gives some ownership because the council ensures provision of essential services.
I also spoke to the Victoria Daly CEO. He is concerned about removing Wadeye from the Victoria Daly. I do not know all the details but I have heard that is the proposal. That may or may not be okay, but we are putting these proposals forward. On the other hand, we are talking about removing Maningrida. I believe they want to be removed from the existing shire and there may be some good reasons for that. I am not barracking for either side, but there could be severe financial implications for councils if you take out a large community with HT Housing houses and a rate base. We are going down this path, but there are discussions about certain places wanting to be removed from existing shires.
There is also the issue of unincorporated areas. I know we are talking about amendments, but if we are talking about changes to shires how can we leave out unincorporated areas? This was a hot potato for the previous government. In some ways they might be relieved they lost the election because unincorporated areas in the rural area are difficult for government to solve.
Mr McCarthy: I would prefer dealing with that, Gerry, than losing the election.
Mr WOOD: Sorry, that was unkind, member for Barkly. You know what I mean. It is difficult, and some people in the area oppose local government. However, you cannot go on forever leaving a piece of country unincorporated because the rest of us pay for services, even if they are only minor things like roads maintenance. The government has to look at those areas.
I attended some of the meetings. Some were reasonable, some more heated than others, but there is no doubt they were interesting. When talking about changes to local government, you cannot avoid the issue of unincorporated areas.
Minister, I have put forward some amendments because even if I believe it is not the right time for this legislation it will be passed and, with that, passed to the local authorities.
I worked on Aboriginal communities for many reasons. Something which concerned me, especially in one place, was certain people got themselves onto councils and authorities while, many times, others missed out. I always asked, ‘Who represents the lady sitting under the mango tree?’ She is quiet, goes about her own business, and there are other people jockeying for power. That is why I have asked the government to look at electing people. There are reasons, and the minister will tell me them. It might be because they want a representative for the health clinic, or this or that. Perhaps you could have people appointed to a section of it. Out of 14, four people could be appointed and the rest elected. You will find the noisy ones and the astute ones get themselves a paid job. It might only be $114 a meeting, and I do not know how many meetings they will have, but it is a few packets of cigarettes or some extra money. It is not to be sneezed at. If you want something to represent a community, all people should be able to vote for who they want.
You could add something to the act saying the authority can allow people who represent certain interests, perhaps the hospital, to be appointed. If the local authorities are to deal with some of the bigger issues – but what is local government about? It is about roads, the basics, and essential services. You will allow, under this, people from the council to put their hand up.
My amendments allow that but they have to be elected. If you appoint people, nominate people, or allow people to nominate and be appointed, you will not necessarily get the people the community wants. You have no proof because there is no election. You nominate yourself for the local authority, and those nominations go to the regional councils and they pick from the nominations. They might like A, B, C and D, but the communities might like E, F, G and H. The community misses out.
The local authorities are different to local boards because they are paid and take on more responsibility, especially with the budgets. That is in this bill. It is about them having a say in the budget for their community.
It raises the question, minister, why did you change this at all? Why did you not increase the power of local boards? Clause 28 of the bill refers to a new clause 53D dealing with the functions of the local authority. The functions of local boards are nearly the same. Under a local board, A, B, C, D and E are exactly the same as the functions of local authority. You have only added two clauses to make them different:
You could have that for a local board. By the way, it is only a recommendation. And:
You could have added that to local boards. You could have used the existing system, retained the shire and still had local boards if you want to change the name, but it did not need too much change. The roles of the board and the local authority are not too different except they have a part to play in setting up the council’s budget.
Minister, I appreciate you have taken on this role as the third person involved in local government, and I appreciate that local government is not an easy issue; it has been difficult for many years. Minister Ah Kit spoke about dysfunctional councils. Not all councils were dysfunctional; there were many good ones. We brought in the sledgehammer and said, ‘Let’s get rid of the lot’. We went to the other extreme of introducing CEOs on high salaries, most of who were from down south. The community had no say in choosing those people. They were set up before there was a council to vote and, therefore, doomed to failure. They were given functions they should not have been given until they were able to show they could do a good job with essential services.
Those areas need reform, the boundaries need reform, the way you can raise revenue needs reform and, obviously, enabling the community to have a greater say needs reforms, which could come with changes to the boundaries.
Madam Speaker, I will not support this bill because it is putting the cart before the horse. If it had come later, perhaps I would. If this had been stage two and we had discussed stage one, which was boundaries and viability, I would say fair enough, but this is the wrong way around. You will put increased burden on councils before we have sorted out those other important issues. The idea of giving more power to the community is a good one, but should be done after we sort out other matters such as the viability of councils and revised boundaries.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I want to share a journey because for me, as a citizen then as a member of parliament, this has been an interesting journey. We have the Taj Mahal of Liberal reform for local government, and it would be great to look at the Parliamentary Record to see what the regional Liberal members said and how they contributed to the debate on the Taj Mahal of local government reform by the Liberals. The regional members seem to be developing a pattern of being handed a piece of paper saying things like, ‘Labor lied’ and ‘Labor did this, Labor did that’. We want to see what is next, and this is the perfect opportunity with such a monumental bill and monumental reform by the Liberals to get it on the public record.
History will tell, and I will be interested to look back to see this as another step in a major journey with, however, a significant detour, on better roads, better infrastructure and more money for everybody from the good old Liberals.
Let us go back a little. I love Territory history. I have really enjoyed my time in the Territory, making the Territory home. I will share with some of the regional members a little about Liberal history and local government. The first thing I remember well is education. I was recruited to the Northern Territory to open the school on Epenarra Station, and I did. Before that, I was very fortunate to spend 12 months in Tennant Creek, and the following year at Brunette Downs. I had a great grounding when I finally convinced the Education department to let me go to Epenarra.
There was nothing there, so I set up camp on the river bank and waited for the contractors to bring Epenarra School, and they did. It was three caravans, which were silver bullets. They were 40 foot Franklins out of Victoria. These had come from Creswell Downs and had done a serious lap in the bush before I got them, so they were very well used. I worked with the contractors in the morning to set them up and worked with the kids on the river bank in the afternoon until we finally got our school together and moved in.
Sitting on that river frontage block looking out over the beautiful Frew River at about 45, with a water bag, I thought one day, ‘Mm, this is an interesting government policy. What is this Liberal government doing?’ They were taking education infrastructure into an area for the Aboriginal community, pulling the wheels off it, setting it up on blocks, and saying, ‘There is your school. But, by jingo, put one foot wrong and we can put the wheels back on and take it back as fast as it arrived.’
It only took two-and-a-half years to arrive, and I am very proud to say Epenarra School now boasts a staff of five teachers, five support staff, and incredible infrastructure thanks to the federal Labor government’s Building the Education Revolution, the most recent investment in education. It is something to be very proud of. I have fond memories and celebrate going to Epenarra to tell those stories. That was an introduction to what the Liberals were doing, and I was part of it.
I then had an interesting journey, and will not bore the House with that. I ended up very close to the action on an education review set up by the Country Liberal Party government called Learning Lessons. It was a major review of Indigenous education. We had a screed of recommendations to implement, and I was at the public sector level where we were preparing Cabinet submissions. That was 25 years down the track, and finally I was at the sharp end of the business and more interested in how Cabinet works, how that end of the business works, as opposed to building footings and foundations with a wild building company out in the bush to set up schools.
In that time I met many senior public servants. Several retired public servants shared some knowledge with me because I was having great difficulty getting these Cabinet submissions through as part of the Learning Lessons review team. We were getting knockbacks, the door was shut, the CLP was broke, the Territory was in a desperate state and they were saying no to everything except cost-neutral initiatives. I will never forget that.
I had some serious plans for Indigenous education and, consequently, a Labor government implemented those recommendations from Learning Lessons over eight years. We will not go there because there are two lines on the other side that tell me it is wrong. It is not, it is right.
The public sector officials advised me I needed a better strategy. If I wanted a good strategy, look at what happened when the first community government council legislation went through the Liberal Cabinet in the Northern Territory. It was knocked back time after time, and the Country Liberal Party government said, ‘No way. We are not doing anything in the bush, not setting up anything, and not funding community government councils.’ The public sector said, ‘You have to do something. It has to be better than caravans. It has to be something substantial, you have to pass this bill. You have to sign off on this Cabinet submission and pass the bill.’ I am cutting a long story short, but my eyes and ears were open and I learnt so much from these senior, retired, public sector officials. They gave me tips to ram through this Cabinet submission, as part of a team, and get the package for major Indigenous reform in the Northern Territory.
I asked, ‘In the end, what brokered the deal?’ To my shock and horror, apparently what brokered the deal was the Liberal minister was told, ‘If you don’t do anything this Aboriginal mob will probably move into town’. To this day, I am still shocked that was the deal breaker. Now it is on the public record after all those years.
From that, I learnt a great deal and today I am able to share some of my learning. The Labor government decided there had to be major reform in local government and shire reform took place. As a citizen in the municipality of Tennant Creek, I took great interest in how that was rolling out. It was major reform; there is no doubt about it.
Not long after that, I was elected to parliament and came in as a member of the government. I watched the opposition and studied hard. An interesting campaign developed by the CLP opposition and now set in stone was the toxic shire campaign. The architects were the member for Braitling, now the Chief Minister, and the member for Fong Lim I am sure – as the most experienced politician here – supported it. Senator Nigel Scullion must have been in on that deal. Then the member for Namatjira came along to complete the scrum and drive into the Territory the toxic shire campaign strategy.
As it rolled out in this House the media picked up on it and the member for Braitling was up just about every night during sittings dropping radio grabs and making the news. He certainly made the news today, by the way. That was a good one on his rsum. He was a regular.
I was listening to this then going home to the Barkly and talking to shire personnel and community people saying, ‘You have to understand the politics behind this. You have to realise what is going on. There are some fundamental issues we are working with. We have to work together.’ I continued to have conversations, show my support and try to rationalise what was a hard-hitting political strategy. It really hit because it started to filter down at a community level. The strategy rolled out into the 2012 election campaign and people bought it.
Today we see the next step in that journey which is, ‘We made promises, got the story out and convinced you we are better than them, so today we have it. Here is the next step in the journey.’
One of the reasons I am still here and not teaching is when confronted with the negative and venomous attack of, ‘Labor lied, we have been disempowered, lost our voice, blah, blah, blah’, I would get people together. I had an advantage as I grew many of them up and grew my family up with them. To all the people in the bush who I have known for a long time I would say, ‘Gather around, we will have a debate’. When they would hit me with that rhetoric, which was a great strategy because it was filtering right down to the bush, I would say, ‘Okay, I get that. Put your hand up if you went to work today or did work today.’ When the heads dropped I would hit them with, ‘There’s a lot of rubbish here. It’s really difficult to get the rubbish to the tip if nobody turns up to work to drive the truck.’ They would say, ‘Kumadjai, we don’t want to hear that’. ‘You will hear that from me.’
I am honoured to be re-elected because I was certainly under fire. That strategy, which we are continually reminded of – Aboriginal people said you guys are out and we are in, you guys are bad and we are good – I was part of that and had to work hard to rationalise it. The work I did over four years to confront the toxic shire campaign strategy of the Liberals must have had an impact. Even on polling day, in some of the bush polling places I was still debating how important it is to get up in the morning and be involved, share in the work, the outcomes, and the celebration of community. It is not about listening to the powerful psychology of how downtrodden you are therefore down tools, sit down, and somebody will come along and save you. That will never work, and I continued to counter that.
However, some of my colleagues were not as fortunate and government changed. In this business, I was asked by a very experienced politician ‘Where is the duty statement? Where is the job description? Do you get any holidays? Listen mate, you don’t have to worry. As a politician you have to remember two things: do not make promises you can’t keep, and buy lots of raffle tickets.’ I started to understand it is about promises you cannot keep. The toxic shire campaign strategy turned into a reality for the Liberals, no doubt led by the regional Liberal members. That strategy now has to translate into major legislative reform, and today we will see passage of a legislative instrument.
My colleague, the member for Nhulunbuy, has done a lot of work in the Caucus, much research, kept us informed, and presented us with many papers to keep us in the loop with this legislation.
The member for Nelson, a champion in the local government area, has also informed the House on the deficits in this legislative instrument and the reason he cannot support it. I am looking forward to being convinced by the regional members of the Country Liberal Party that we should support it.
Having said that, it really has missed the target and the advice is pragmatic: take it back to the drawing board. We have been waiting a long time, but this is your major reform package, the real deal. This will change outcomes in the bush. Remember, it is all about outcomes.
I have to throw in some politics. Let us look at the structure of how the Liberal journey started. First, Chief Minister Hon Terry Mills handed the job to the member for Braitling, Adam Giles, who created the strategy. He dealt with it and his rhetoric was around consultation. I took a lot of interest in consultation. I met some really hard-working public sector officials conducting the consultations, even at festivals and alternative venues, which I congratulate the department on. The next player was the member for Namatjira.
In the public arena the discussion was, ‘Is this celebrated local government reform and major reform for the bush, or is it a poisoned chalice being handed around and something too hot to be touched?’ The member for Braitling was the architect and should have stayed with it because that was where the ideas came from and the responsibility to deliver. However, the member for Namatjira got her fingerprints on it.
I will share a dot point on her rsum in quoting from an interview with Alison Anderson on Radio Alice with Eli Melky and others on 10 September 2013 about being dumped from Cabinet and the federal job offer. Melky said:
The member for Namatjira, Hon Alison Anderson replied:
That was the minister at the time with carriage of this major reform, and I found it shocking. I found it to be incredibly disturbing for an elected community leader. You have to put it into perspective – Eli Melky, Radio Alice, and a hyperactive member for Namatjira – and it all came together. It reflects the values around the CLP and this reform.
It was then handed to the biggest hitter in the team, the member for Fong Lim. The rumour mill went wild when that happened. In the Barkly, the political pundits put a lot of energy into discussion around that. I said from day one in this House, ‘Don’t underestimate that bloke. He had six years in the federal parliament and is a big hitter. We will see some action.’ By the way, I tell my constituents he is the Treasurer and has his finger on the pulse. One if the first people I made good friends with when becoming an MLA was the Treasurer. I went out of my way to ensure I had a strong professional relationship with the Treasurer.
The Treasurer now has carriage of this. Let us say we got rid of the architect, the guy who could only put toxicity into it, we got rid of the member for Namatjira, who did not have the backbone for it, and now we have the Treasurer. I am disappointed in the legislative instrument. One could say the Treasurer is a little bored with it and wants to move on. However, this is too big and too dangerous for the Liberals. It was too big and too dangerous for Labor, so we are told.
Member for Braitling now Chief Minister, with that very successful strategy you created expectations. The expectations in the bush were huge around the psychology, ‘If we vote for these people they will crash this shire reform and we will go back to the good old days’. There are people in the Barkly electorate who believe they will see the return of graders, trucks, low loaders and backhoes, there will be cheque books in the glove box to run these machines, and it will be like the good old days of community government councils. They believe it because that strategy was so powerful. Those expectations are there, and when you make big promises, you have to deliver big. This legislation is not doing that.
My colleague, the member for Nhulunbuy, has clearly outlined the opposition’s points of why this bill fails. The member for Nelson said it needs to go back to the drawing board, and I agree with that. Working together, we could probably strengthen this. If you subtract the member for Braitling and the toxic shire campaign strategy, look at the shire reform the previous Labor government was implementing, then we can get it right and take it to the next stage. We all agree on one thing: we cannot go back to regional government councils, and we have to move forward to ensure the guys on the rubbish truck get up in the morning and go to work so the rubbish is cleared. We can then start to build the rest of the picture.
One thing we can do, which is being debated today, is empower people at a local level. We had local boards, which have had a name change to local authorities. We said the concept is good, the Liberals say the concept is good; however, we on this side of the House do not believe you guys have it entirely right.
Minister, around the Caucus table in a Labor camp I was one of the exponents of budgets for local boards. People were telling me they wanted a budget to do local things, to do the smaller scale projects in the communities. They wanted to know that if there were potholes at the end of the street, something could be done immediately. They felt that was a good level to start at. They wanted decision-making; they wanted to be part of the process. They also wanted to have their hands on some dollars, and we looked at that in our reform.
The toxic shire campaign strategy spoke about boundary changes, which set up huge expectations. When the now Chief Minister, the architect of the strategy, talks about cultural authority, he really bought into cultural authority. When the Aboriginal people I have lived and worked with for over 35 years talk, they talk about possible breakups on cultural authority which reflects tribal boundaries. That expectation came from a man from the Blue Mountains, but it was powerful psychology. It has reverberated right through the bush, and people are talking about boundary breakups and what they will control and what they will have to look after. I am unsure if that got out there in the consultation process, because there are areas in the Barkly still talking like that.
The other area of the reform Labor was insistent on was implementing the remedial financial sustainability actions outlined in the Deloitte report. It is so important to work on that area. The previous minister for Construction and Infrastructure was working closely with the department on ways to get a cash flow working through remote communities and towns for the work performed by the public sector. That seems to be lost in this government’s agenda. It seems to have turned around in the tendering processes we are looking at proposed by the Liberals.
We were working on that to value-add to financial sustainability, as well as offering training to employment and outcomes. That is an important area of this debate, and financial sustainability cannot be lost. I was interested to hear the member for Nelson speak about add-on layers of costs which have not been planned for. I have learnt a lot in this House, and learnt a lot from the opposition. One thing in any debate around legislation or committee stage amendments was always justification of where the finances were coming from. If there are gaps it is not good legislation because you will create problems down the track. It has to be watertight.
Let us face it, in the monumental change by the Liberals in local government and the glory days of the bush ahead of us, you really want to ensure it is tight.
We have more debate to follow. There is an opportunity to take this back to the drawing board, and as you have heard from our representative, the member for Nhulunbuy, there cannot be support for poor legislation resulting from pragmatic issues around poor consultation of major reforms – essentially, broken promises. I do not need to tell the minister how important that is and how people in the community are very cognisant of politicians breaking their promises. The Country Liberals have been badged with the clich, ‘What they say and what they do are two different things’ and it is reverberating through the community. I am not one for toxic campaign strategies, but if ‘this mob say one thing and do the other’ comes up in conversation I jump on that debate.
Legislation reflecting half-truths and broken promises has no place in this House. I have written a note for myself as a master teacher: I give you a resubmit not a fail. It has taken some time to get this far, so what is a little more time in this House? The full review into financial sustainability and viability of regional local government in the Northern Territory is due early in 2014. Once again another promise, but as the member for Nelson highlighted, it is putting the cart before the horse. Let us see the detail of an important aspect of this legislation before it completes its passage through the House.
There is no definition around the boundary changes. I need to explain that to my constituents. As I said to the member for Braitling, he has gone into interesting anthropological areas, some of which he is probably not aware of. However, should he want to take a trip through the Barkly, I will introduce him to people who will share with him the same education they shared with me over many years. Without that clear definition about boundary changes I do not see how this legislation can pass today.
Labor’s review and reform was planned. It had a process, objectives and outcomes, and was part of what would have been the fourth term. However, that did not take place so, unfortunately, I am not on that side telling you how watertight we had it and where we were going with it. You guys are telling us. We do not see it is a complete body of work and, as I said, I give you a resubmit.
Mr TOLLNER (Local Government and Regions): Madam Speaker, I should correct the record. I might not necessarily be the minister in closing, I might well be standing as member for Fong Lim speaking on the bill, which would give me 45 minutes to speak, and I could ask for an extension of 10 minutes. I could then sit down and stand up to close discussion, which would give me another 30 minutes. I could ask for an extension of 10 minutes there, giving me a total of 105 five minutes speaking time.
An interesting quirk of circumstances, but I know how keen everyone is to get on with this. I promise I will not speak for 105 minutes, but I would like to say a few things.
Firstly, I thank all members who have spoken in this debate. I found this debate extraordinarily interesting. The member for Nhulunbuy is always interesting. At times, I think the member for Nhulunbuy lives in a parallel universe, but perhaps that is the way things are in Nhulunbuy. It really was a rambling rant in some regards, but there were some interesting anecdotes.
It is fair to say the member for Nelson is probably the most experienced person in local government in this Chamber. That does not necessarily make him the smartest person on local government, but he certainly has something to contribute and is always interesting to listen to.
What can I say about the member for Barkly? I class the member for Barkly as not a close friend, but someone I am friendly with. I enjoy the banter he provides and he is a fabulous human being. Mind you, in all the time he spent in the bush he should have worn a hat. Some would say he was tetched by the sun. I do not agree with pretty well all the arguments he presents, but that does not take away from the fact he is a good bloke in some regards.
In 2012, the newly elected Country Liberal government committed to remote residents that we would consult directly with them to better understand their concerns and to examine the best means of improving the local government structures and service delivery. A critical issue raised during the election campaign was that people in remote communities felt they had lost control of their local government councils, which were perceived to be unresponsive. This was described by people in our regional and remote communities as having lost their voice. An important point missed in this debate is people in those communities felt they had lost their voice. In regional and remote areas the relevance of local government is much higher than in urban communities such as Darwin.
I had a chat with people on the Alice Springs council and they said, ‘Dave, you do not seem to understand how important council is to us in Alice Springs. All the work of government takes place in the Top End of the Territory. Our real voice, the things we are most concerned about, is local government because that really gives us our say.’ For people in remote communities that is even more important.
I do not argue this, but an argument could be mounted that local government in Darwin and Palmerston could almost be perceived as irrelevant. The reason is the great interaction people in our communities have with their local Territory government member. Almost every weekend there is not an electorate in the northern suburbs, Nelson, or Palmerston where the local member is not out knocking on doors, attending barbecues or going to school council meetings.
Most people in the Darwin region have a very close affinity with their local member. It is an old saying in Territory politics that you have to know your local people, you have to know everybody who lives in your community, you have to know the name of the person’s husband, wife, children, dog, parrot, what type of roses they grow in their garden and all of that type of thing. You have a very close relationship with people in the community from a Territory government level.
I appreciate the member for Barkly thinks it is great I have been in the federal parliament and now I am the Deputy Chief Minister, but at times we can get ahead of ourselves and get lost in our own self-importance. Ultimately, what people most want is interaction with their representatives and to feel they have a connection with their representatives. It does not matter where you live in the Northern Territory, everyone will tell you Canberra is out of touch. Why? We have two federal members and two senators. That is four people in the entire area, and the chance of those people having a direct personal relationship with an entire Territory community is impossible. In the Territory government, certainly in the Top End, people have that personal connection.
However, getting out to the remote regions of the Territory becomes more difficult because of the vastness of the area people have to cover. Their real connection to government is local government and that is where they feel they are represented. That is where they feel their voice is most heard.
I disagree with the member for Nelson when he says local government is not about culture. In some regard it is about the culture of being able to talk to your local representative. That has been disregarded in this debate.
Another great compliment was the member for Barkly saying the former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, our current Chief Minister, Adam Giles, me, and the member for Namatjira concocted this wonderful plan, brainwashed everybody in remote areas, and ran this fabulous marketing campaign which saw several seats lost. Thanks for the compliment, member for Barkly, but that is not the case. Our leader at the time, Terry Mills, was a visionary …
Ms Anderson: He was making out Aboriginal people are dumb.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, clearly, that is the intent. I am sure our previous Chief Minister, Terry Mills, would also like some of the credit. Our previous Chief Minister, Terry Mills, was listening. It was not about him devising a cunning plan where we could steal government off people in the bush, it was Terry Mills, Adam Giles, the member for Namatjira and others listening to remote communities and understanding the issues. They understood people were frustrated at not having their voice heard because, to them, that was their greatest issue. They did not think there was anybody in a position of authority anywhere they had a personal connection with.
Taking away what they felt was a real connection with local government is what was so toxic. Members on the other side hate hearing the word ‘toxic’, but ask Karl Hampton, Barb McCarthy, Rob Knight, and Marion Scrymgour whether that legislation was toxic. Clearly it was politically toxic and they paid the price because they were not listening to their communities. I thought we had the member for Barkly on toast, but in the dying weeks of the campaign he got the message and was out there. We received feedback he was everywhere. We really put the wind up him and he got out there and held on, and all credit to him. Much of that goes to his history in those communities as well, because he spent …
Mr McCarthy: The last 35 years.
Mr TOLLNER: As he said, the last 35 years in those communities. People knew him, had engagement with him, and this is what it comes back to. The issue of people having lost their voice is fundamental to what we are about.
The reforms in this bill follow extensive consultations with the bush and have not been dreamed up overnight. A Regional Governance Working Group was formed in November 2012, consisting of leaders from remote communities, elected local government councillors, representatives of Aboriginal land councils, industry representatives and a representative from Desert Knowledge Australia. The group was chaired by Alice Springs Mayor, Damien Ryan, who is also President of the Local Government Association. I give my thanks to that group for their dedication to considering the options.
I thank the member for Barkly for letting us know how hard that group worked because they were everywhere. They were at fetes and community meetings all over the place. There were 177 community visits, 279 meetings, and 32 written submissions, a fantastic job. I also thank local members in our remote electorates for driving the issue, getting involved in some of the consultations, and taking the bull by the horns and listening to what people in communities had to say.
Madam Speaker, the Local Government Amendment Bill has much to recommend it as an example of this government listening to Territorians residing in regional and remote areas and ensuring local governance arrangements in those areas are strengthened. Consultation on the draft bill and guidelines was genuine. When local people said they wanted to choose their own chair, we changed the amendments. Whilst the member for Nhulunbuy sees that as a negative, we, and most people, say, ‘At least you are listening’. I am interested in the committee stage. I have some opinions on the member for Nelson’s amendments, but we will discuss them when they come up.
When the shire councils said they could not get the authorities up and running during the cultural ceremony season, we said the regional council would have until July 2014 to get local authorities established. We took the initial three sets of draft guidelines and refined them to a single set, better reflecting the practicalities of involving local community members in local government decision-making and communication. There is that word again, ‘communication’.
There is great support for these changes. As one community member explained, ‘In the early days it felt like the shire could hide the money story from the community. That will definitely not happen now.’
The proposed amendments will give regional and remote communities back their voice in local governance matters. It is that voice they want. The previous government took away the voice of the people who elected them as representatives and has still not woken up to that fact. It took away what people perceived as their only opportunity to talk with people in authority, their representatives.
We have the task of restoring and strengthening their voice, and this bill is the first part of that process. Local authorities will bring revitalisation and put the word ‘local’ back into local government. Local authority members can expect respect, not only for themselves, but for their contribution to council decisions. Regional councils will respect local authorities by keeping them informed and involving them in decision-making.
We value the opinion of people living in communities and this bill is evidence of that. Local authorities will have an active role in council decision-making, including planning and budget decisions.
We have listened to people during the consultations; we have changed the original bill so a local authority can appoint its own chair. We have also recognised that local people, via their councils, need the power to determine the area of a local authority.
The member for Nhulunbuy believes this is a bad thing. I stress, this is where the previous government went wrong; they failed to listen and heed the fact people wanted a voice. We are grateful to the many people across the Territory who took the time to be involved in the consultations and share their thoughts.
The bill also shows the government is listening to councils. The bill abolishes regional management plans currently provided for in the act. Councils advise regional management plans were cumbersome, did not provide any measurable gain and, in general, did not achieve their objectives. We are about cutting red tape and letting people get on with the job, a core philosophy of this government.
This government is committed to ensuring there are strong and productive working relationships among traditional owners, landholders, community special interest groups, industries, land councils, and local government.
This is a new way of doing local government, and it is evolving through constant interaction with people in the bush. I am not suggesting this bill is the be-all and end-all of local government; there is still plenty of work to be done. However, it sets a foundation for change. It provides maximum flexibility for individual community members to have their say. This is stage one. In stage two we will look at boundaries. Issues have been raised about revenue to services. As a government, we understand this will cost somewhat more. We have increased the Local Government budget by 25%, taking it from $20m to $25m. We have also provided for an additional $2m to help with the transitional arrangement. Of course, numerous consultations will be undertaken in relation to the services these regional councils and local authorities will want and expect to provide.
We are trying to maintain maximum flexibility. What works in one community might not be appropriate for another community. What gets people onto local authorities in one community might not be the way to go in other communities. We want to maintain flexibility because we want to listen to communities and ultimately do what people want us to.
I put to the Chamber the bill goes a long way in reversing the damage done by the previous government to Territorians in regional and remote communities. That damage was mainly about taking away their voice or their perception that they had a say. My view is that local government is relevant to many people living in the bush or remote communities because it is a real interaction they have with their representatives and people in authority.
I am also interested in continuing the discussion around governance in communities and about the services provided. I should have said at the outset that I am proud to be the Local Government minister. I recognise there are challenges and people call it the poisoned chalice. I was quite stunned when we were elected and I was appointed Health minister. In the fullness of time, I can say to the previous Chief Minister I was thrilled to get that job. People said it was a poisoned chalice; there are dead bodies everywhere around the Health portfolio. I found it a surprisingly good challenge.
I believe local government will be the same and I look forward to the opportunities. I am proud to have charge of this portfolio. I thank the Chief Minister for the work he put in to develop it – as the member for Barkly said, the architect. I also thank the member for Namatjira who did a sterling job as the minister in this portfolio as well.
Madam Speaker, I recommend this bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Mr CHAIR: The committee has before it the Local Government Amendment Bill 2013 (Serial 35), together with Schedule of Amendments No 7 circulated by the Minister for Local Government and Regions, and Schedule of Amendments No 8 circulated by the member for Nelson.
Clauses 1 to 27, by leave, taken together.
Mr WOOD: I need clarification here. Can we deal with some of the broader issues first?
Mr CHAIR: Yes, fine.
Mr WOOD: Minister, I will move to some general topics I would like an answer to. One is financing of the boards because that is not in the bill, it is in the guidelines. I have to ask now otherwise there is no place for it. Minister, did the government cost running the new local authorities not only for the amount of money paid out for sitting fees, but also the cost of establishment and the administrative back-up needed?
Mr TOLLNER: We have allowed additional funding for those measures. However, there is a lot of flexibility and, as Treasurer, I realise this. Talking about local authorities, I heard your contribution, ‘There are so many local authorities, so many members – 10, 14 or so’. It might not have been you, member for Nelson, it might have been the member for Barkly, but assumptions are made there.
Not every community will necessarily want a local authority and not every local authority will have 10 to 14 members. There has to be flexibility. I believe we have adequately funded it to date; however, realise there needs to be some flexibility in the funding arrangements because you are really asking how long is a piece of string, if you understand my point. Each region and each local authority will have different views on the number of people required on their local authority and whether they want one.
Mr WOOD: Minister, any good government when it puts out a bill looks at the possible cost ramifications. You have said, more or less, the government will pay for the cost of local authorities. Have you set aside an annual amount of money to be provided for councils to pay people for sitting fees and other matters?
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, member for Nelson. We assumed there would be 70 local authorities with an average of 10 members per local authority. These are the assumptions we have made, and they may vary in the wash-up of how communities want their local authorities to operate. We have assumed there will be eight paid meetings per annum per local authority. That makes a total of 560 local authority meetings per year at $114 per member per meeting allowance, administrative support at $100 per meeting day, and council staff support to each local authority meeting taking approximately four days per meeting at $300 per day.
That adds up to $1.4m over a 12-month period. Do you want to break that $1.4m up based on regions? I have the figures per region – Barkly, Central Desert, East Arnhem and the like. I will table it and we can get some copies made. It is quite extensive information.
Mr WOOD: Minister, you said you do not know whether all local authorities will exist. Several questions back you gave me the impression that if a council does not want a local authority to happen it will not. The guidelines you have set out say:
Are you saying that councils have the power not to set up a local authority?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, as I said in my closing remarks, built into this is maximum flexibility. We made a range of assumptions and put out guidelines on those assumptions. However, we can change the guidelines at any time. We are more than willing to change them because we are most interested in hearing from local people and communities. Where there is a good reason why people do not want a local authority, we will take that into account and try to act on the wishes of that community. Similarly, if there is a community not listed as having a local authority and is desperate to have one, we will assess that and try to meet the needs of that community.
The whole idea is, at least initially, we maintain maximum flexibility. We have put out some projections on assumptions, but they are flexible and things may well change into the future as a result of consultations and the expressed desires of people in communities.
Mr WOOD: The member for Nhulunbuy wants to ask a question but I want to keep on that line for a minute. Do not get me wrong, minister, the idea of local authorities is good, it is just putting the cart before the horse. My concern is the government will now have to find $1.4m to fund local authorities. If I were to ask you – I would tell Litchfield Council – the library was funded for three years and then the money was gone.
My concern is the councils are not viable, and I am not the only one who believes that. People smarter than me, such as those at Deloitte, are saying that. We have not looked at viability, which is one reason I have problems with this bill. For what period can you guarantee local government this funding will continue? If you are to fund it for two years then they are on your own, that immediately throws a big budget cost back on a council that is not viable. Will the government guarantee funds for the next five years, or until there is a proper review of local government funding so they are not burdened with something which might sound a good idea but could be a burden on councils? As the member for Barkly said, that money could have been used for basic infrastructure.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, good question, member for Nelson. To be totally blunt, there are no guarantees. There are few guarantees of anything in this life apart from death and taxes, as they say. However, the lesson learnt from the last election is we need to ensure peoples’ voices are being heard and, in order to do that, it will cost us money.
In relation to the viability of local government across the Northern Territory, much work needs to be done in that area and hard decisions need to be made. Generally, if you look at an urban township, councils can collect rates and raise revenue on a range of areas, whereas remote councils currently have very little revenue-raising capacity. We are interested in changing that. We want this model of local government to work and be self-sustaining in many ways. I understand that will take time and much more consultation and discussion, not just with people on the ground, but people in Canberra who also have a stake in regional councils and funding. There is work to be done in that area.
I assure you this is one of those critical areas where we know we have made commitments. We want to see this local government model work and will put the resources in to ensure it does. At this point in time we have made some assumptions. They may be wildly wrong, but there is a lot of work to be done. We are looking down the barrel of a $5.5bn Labor debt and money is tight but, as my good friend General Cosgrove once said to me, ‘Mate, freedom does not come for free’. These things cost money and if people want to have a voice and live in a democracy we have to allocate the resources to keep those services and that democracy working.
Ms WALKER: Minister, you spoke about the costs of local authorities based on certain assumptions – an average of 10 members across 70 local authorities having X number of meetings a year – and you arrived at a figure of $1.4m per annum. Does that figure include expenses associated with section 72?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, we have factored that into our calculations but the expectation is that expenses will be kept to a minimum because these are local authorities and people will be living in the local area. Unlike, for instance, our Business Advisory Council where we have to fly people in from all over the Northern Territory and the expenses of getting to meetings massively outweigh the cost of meeting fees. In this case, the view is the amount paid to a member will be the lion’s share of the requirements of funding in these areas.
Ms WALKER: Minister, section 72 of the Local Government Act states:
During the Wet Season a meeting might be held and a member of the local authority lives on an outstation in the Top End. Whilst the distance might not be too far, the reality is the only way they can attend that meeting is to charter a plane. Would that be regarded as a reasonable expense?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, these decisions need to be taken with the cost involved in mind. We looked at a range of things in the consultations about when we do things. We did not do them during ceremony season. A range of idiosyncrasies in each community will impact on meeting times, and one would expect locals would understand the climatic conditions, the ceremonial requirements, and the cultural issues of their region and not schedule meetings when they cannot arrive at them.
These are local authorities manned by local people, and travelling and accommodation expenses should be kept at a minimum. In the main, those local people will live in the community, will not require accommodation expenses and should not necessarily have travelling expenses.
Ms WALKER: That is all very well, minister, but the reality is some communities are structured in a way that they are not all physically in that community. Cultural connection to homelands or outstations is a real factor, and there may be elected members in authority who live in a homeland and in Top End Wet Season weather roads are impassable and they would have no choice but to fly.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, I take your point, but we do not want to be sitting at the top saying, ‘Do this and that, we will fund this and that’. We will give a global budget to a regional council and it will have responsibility to set the policy around spending that money. Ultimately, you would expect them to have a lot of input into how local authorities meet, when they meet, where they meet, and the cost of those meetings.
Ms WALKER: Minister, I had a further question. The guidelines state six to eight meetings a year, is that correct?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, perhaps you did not receive it, but I tabled a funding of regional council and local authority briefing which I received. I can read it straight off there, but it has not come around yet …
Mr WOOD: I do not think they have collected it.
Mr TOLLNER: It is being copied and will come around. These are assumptions so things may change, but there would be 70 local authorities, 10 members per local authority, they would have eight paid meetings per year, a total of 560 local authority meetings per year, $114 per member meeting allowance, administrative support at $100 per meeting day, and council support staff to each local authority meeting taking approximately four days per meeting at $300 a day.
Ms WALKER: Minister, my question was whether it was six or eight meetings a year. I gave the example during my contribution to debate earlier today following a discussion I had with a representative of MacDonnell Shire, who is quite adamant they can do their business as a local board or authority over three meetings a year. Does anything prevent them from sticking to three meetings a year, or must they have the minimum six?
Mr TOLLNER: No, member for Nhulunbuy, we are trying to have maximum flexibility in this system. If they want to meet once a year, that is fine; if they want to meet 30 times a year, that is fine, depending on the resources of their council. Obviously we are not imposing that. Not every local authority will want to have 10 members; some might be happy with five or six. Others might want to have a much larger group. However, these are important decisions that local communities make in consultation with their councils, because their thinking is only limited by the dollars the councils are prepared to spend on them. If they only want three meetings a year, that is fine with this government.
Ms WALKER: Minister, if that were the case with the MacDonnell Shire and they thought they would only meet twice a year – I doubt they would – can they bank the savings and fix the three pools and have them operating for the summer?
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely. Our position is to allow maximum flexibility for councils and authorities to operate the best way they can to ensure people in local communities have a voice and input into decision-making and get the best bang for buck with the limited resources they have.
Ms WALKER: Minister, on the strength of that, my concern would be they may trade off their opportunity to have that strong local voice by meeting the shortfall in operational funds for ageing infrastructure. I am not sure that is the best outcome for strengthening local voices in local communities.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, these are decisions we all make every day. I would like to be driving around in a Ferrari. Due to limited resources, I cannot. I have to make an assessment and use my judgment. One would expect councils and authorities would use their judgment and make an assessment.
As I said in response to the member for Nelson, we have put some guidelines out, but we are more than happy to change guidelines to allow maximum flexibility in the system and allow local people to have their say and determine what is best for their future and that of their community.
Mr WOOD: To clarify that, in the draft guidelines:
Are you considering changing that?
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely. If a community says they can do their business adequately over three meetings we are more than happy to change the guidelines in that regard. What is most important to us, member for Nelson, and what we are anxious to see occur, is local people feel they are getting a say. That is the main thrust of this.
We could bang on about how important it is we turn up here for six months of the year, but is that the best use of taxpayers’ money? We seem to do our work in around 35 days of sittings every year, and it costs a great deal to run. The Chief Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of Government Business and others have to judge the best use of our time in this place. It will be exactly the same with local government.
Mr WOOD: Is there not an anomaly? I understand where you are coming from, but you do not tell councils that. You say they must have a minimum number of meetings per year so you do not give them flexibility. These are, to some extent, pseudo councils there to represent people in that area.
I am not against what you are trying to do. When you replied you gave the impression we are anti, but it was concerns about the cost and about changes before this came into place.
Is there not an inconsistency? On one hand you say councils must have one meeting every two months – there is a section on council meetings and I thought there were a minimum number of meetings required per year. Then you say to local advisory authorities if they want none, theoretically, they could have none. That sends out the wrong message. It does not run well if you tell a council to have so many meetings, then you tell local authorities they can have as many as they like, or none. It does not seem consistent.
Mr TOLLNER: I apologise if that is the case, because the desire is to appear consistent, flexible, and try to do as much as we can to meet the needs of the community. I will give you an example. The member for Daly might not be too happy if I said we would set up a local authority at Dundee, require 15 people from Dundee to sit on it, and it is required to meet six times a year. This caused a lot of grief for the previous member for Daly, and others, from a community that does not want a bar of local government.
Our desire is to meet the requirements of local people and best assist them by giving a voice to them. If they determine they do not want a local authority in their area, as a government we will not impose one. As I said, if the guidelines preclude it we will change them. If a good case is made for an area to have a local authority which does not have one earmarked, we would like that area looked after. Ultimately, it will depend on the resources of the council whether they can fund those things.
There have to be limitations, but within those limitations we want to maintain as much flexibility as possible, meaning the guidelines can be varied at any time. The message I would like to get out, and the one the previous minister was getting out, is we want maximum flexibility in this system so we can deliver what communities most want in their unique circumstances.
Mr WOOD: I guess the issue is whether people, knowing they will be paid, will just have meetings because they only have to be there for an hour and will be paid. That is the other side of the equation.
On the document you gave us about funding regional councils and local authorities, you say the government is increasing the annual operational subsidy by $5m per annum. Was that done before you had a view on funding local authorities?
Mr TOLLNER: The previous minister did a fantastic job and made a range of assumptions, and that is where we are at this point in time. The previous minister had to go through a Budget Cabinet process because we knew that later in the year we would be progressing local government reforms and had to allocate money to it.
These assumptions were made, as we make assumptions everywhere across the budget. Sometimes, those assumptions do not cost as much money, other times we make assumptions and discover they are wildly wrong and we pay a fortune. I am sure the member for Barkly would attest to that when they bought the AMS system. I doubt they expected the asset management system to cost anywhere near what it will. They assessed it would cost probably 5% of what it is currently costing. Things change.
The previous minister made a good assessment, and we have made some good assumptions and will not be wildly off the mark. However, there is flexibility in this area because we understand things may not pan out exactly how we imagined.
Mr WOOD: The paper you gave us mentions Closing the Gap funding. I am unsure what that allocation was for. If you are saying funding of local authorities could be supported by the $2m grant pool, what misses out if local authorities dip into the $2m from Closing the Gap? What was that money originally intended for? Was it specific or is this where they could get funding from? It is on the back of that?
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, I understand what you are talking about. Member for Nelson, these decisions always have to be made. If you take money from somewhere, something will lose funding. There is not, as the previous Treasurer thought, a magic pudding which keeps giving. You have a finite amount of money. It is wrong to load yourself up in debt and pass all that debt to the next generation and the one after that. We are seeing the fruits of that now, having inherited what we have.
Closing the Gap is, in the main, about trying to bring up to an even field a range of different statistics around Indigenous people: health outcomes, educational outcomes, life expectancy, and all those issues. Clearly, local government has to be part of that in many remote areas of the Northern Territory because it is the only governance structure in many communities and we want it involved. It is only fitting the federal government looks at local government and acknowledges its role in Closing the Gap.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is my concern. The Barkly Shire talks about problems if you decrease its funding. If it has to run advisory councils it decreases the amount of money it has for something else. If the government can guarantee funding will last at least until we sort out viability of the councils, I would feel much more positive about what you are doing. Barkly is the biggest council and says if there is not ongoing funding for this project it will lose out and be less viable. That is what I am trying to emphasise now. That is all the questions I have on that area.
I wanted to talk about the name. I do not know if I can go through a specific part of the legislation in relation to that or just talk about it in general while we are here.
I have not heard a good reason why we cannot keep the shires and change the local boards to local authorities. Councils would not have to rebrand and names would remain the same. It seems someone has plucked this name out from somewhere. When you were in opposition the shadow minister started talking about regional councils. I have no idea where it has come from, but it seems to be an additional cost councils do not need. All you had to do was upgrade the local boards to local authorities and put the things in this legislation under that.
What is the logic behind the change?
Mr TOLLNER: I had my eyes opened a few months ago wearing my Treasury hat when we were looking at setting up a Budget Review Committee. I suggested we call it the Expenditure Review Committee and everybody went into conniptions. I had forgotten that 15 years ago the Expenditure Review Committee slashed the budgets of a number of public services. Everyone remembers it. It does not matter that every state government, and the federal government, has an Expenditure Review Committee, we cannot have one here because of the bad memories it conjures.
The difference between shire councils and regional councils is somewhat a perception. Regional councils are a fresh start. There is a bigger difference to it. Regional councils will invigorate regional and remote communities by being clearly distinct from shire councils in having effective local authorities.
People will not warm to the large shire councils staying the same. Both the councils and the communities need a fresh approach, a new name, a new commitment to be inclusive, to communicate, to listen and respond. If you think the shire councils have achieved inclusion and effective communication between councils and communities, I suggest you are wrong.
Some councils have been trying hard, but we need to change. We are continuing to consult and are always willing to listen to people. Some places may want more change and we will listen to them. We are not saying this is the one and only change, this is a foundation for change. We built maximum flexibility into this expecting change. This is an evolving policy rather than something set in concrete. These are not our ideas; we are being driven, largely, by the wishes of local communities.
Yes, the guidelines give me power around providing flexibility. Guidelines are not a new thing. Guidelines from the previous government already exist, some much longer and more comprehensive than these on things such as allowances for council members, appointing a CEO, investments, borrowings, and disposal of property. The guidelines for investments made by the previous government are 35 pages long. The content of the draft guidelines has been a matter of full consultation. No one has said they do not want guidelines. Guidelines are an accepted way to elaborate and further explain matters under the Local Government Act, but the guidelines we have are designed to be flexible. If areas need change we will assess and change them.
Regarding you question about changing the name, it is as much about perception as anything else. We want people to relate to their local government people much better. Using the word ‘shires’, people have made an assessment the shires are toxic, they cut out their voices, and sticking with that name in some of locations would have made it extremely difficult to achieve the change we need.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister, for that explanation. It gives it some logic because until now it has just been a name change. That is the first time I have heard why the name has been changed. I accept there are some valid points in what you say.
You say in the guidelines there will be flexibility, and there is a section in the act about whether you can determine if a local government is a municipality – a dreadful word – it ain’t, pardon me, a council. That is why we have a council at Litchfield called Litchfield Council. It could be the school council or the local horse riding council …
Mr TOLLNER: It probably was when you were there.
Mr WOOD: We had a few cars in that area – it talks about determining whether a local government area is a municipality, a region or a shire. You said you want maximum flexibility in the guidelines. What happens if the shire says, ‘We want to stay as we are’? Does it have that right, or has it been determined that a shire shall be, regardless of what they think, a region?
Mr TOLLNER: You are throwing them out of left field, member for Nelson. Essentially, there is no reason why we could not change the guidelines to allow shire councils to keep their names as shire councils. However, as I said earlier, keeping the name ‘shire’ makes it extraordinarily difficult for them to consult and get that …
Mr WOOD: They could have local boards.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes. If in a unique circumstance the community says, ‘We love the shires. They are not toxic here. We want to keep the name shire council.’ If that is what they want we will look at ways of delivering that for them ...
Mr WOOD: That is what Barkly is saying.
Mr TOLLNER: If Barkly puts up a case to maintain the shire name and can demonstrate it has widespread support, why would we not keep the name? We will not get caught up on names. The reason we changed names is it made it easier to consult with people. There is already a certain stigma around super shires. However, if people want to stick with that, that is their call. In most places around the Territory, certainly those previous ministers and I have visited, there is not much support for maintaining shires.
Clauses 1 to 27 agreed to.
Clause 28:
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.1 standing in my name.
Mr WOOD: Are you speaking to the amendment, minister?
Mr CHAIR: While the minister is collecting his notes, I would like to welcome Damien Ryan, Mayor of Alice Springs, in the public gallery.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr TOLLNER: This amendment is about the ability to identify regional council boundaries and the like. It places authority into the hands of councils and local people to determine and fits within the framework of the bill.
Mr WOOD: Is there any great change between those two or is it just getting rid of the heading ‘by Gazette notice’ and putting the phrase ‘by Gazette notice’ in the next two clauses because that seems to be what has happened?
Mr TOLLNER: It means the council defines its boundary, not the minister, member for Nelson.
Mr WOOD: That is a good move, especially as local government should have the power to do a few things without ministerial overriding.
Mr TOLLNER: Got to keep a close eye on them.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr WOOD: I move amendment 8.1 standing in my name to change proposed section 53C(1)(b) which at present says:
To read:
I will speak to that clause because other areas need to be discussed.
I said I am concerned that if you only have people appointed – the minister used the word ‘represented’ – it is hard to say if people are appointed they are true representatives of that community. The democratic process for that is by election. I understand part of what we have today is people who are, for instance, on the council and can stand as well. You might be looking for people who are specialists in a particular area. If you want to go down that path, have some special spots on the committee for a health representative, an education representative, but they are still the people who should be making the decisions. They might be informed by those people, but people should be elected. I bring back the dangers of this.
We are not talking about local boards any more. Local boards are like the fishing committee – they can turn up any time they like. They are volunteers and turn up at a meeting and say, ‘This is what we think should happen’. You have now put some teeth into this. The change you have brought forward is an attempt to ensure people feel they have ownership. It is something I was harping on for years and something I agree with. If you do not elect people you will not have true ownership. The process – tell me if I am wrong – is people put their name down, get a seconder, put it in an envelope and hand it to the local council. The local council opens it and says, ‘We will pick her, him dah, dah, dah’. They might pick the noisiest ones, the best looking ones, the smartest ones, but they might not be the ones people wanted. It is a fundamental issue. If you want people to have ownership of their community, give them ownership of the people on that committee. That can only be done by election.
You gave me a hint before saying we might be able to have elections or appointments. You cannot have one or the other. Government must protect the rights of people to democratically elect people to represent them. If you start giving a choice you water down that right, and that is something we should protect. It is like saying we should not have a secret ballot. I do not agree. I have seen places where they did not have a secret ballot. They all got in a circle and said, ‘Let’s vote for them’. It might not be what the people wanted but they were too scared not to.
We should maintain this as a local authority elected by the people so we are confident those on the committee represent them when they make decisions about a budget which will affect them.
Ms WALKER: I briefly wanted to speak in support of the member for Nelson’s amendment. As we are talking about giving local voices back, strengthening local voices, to be truly democratic it is about being elected not appointed.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I have prepared some notes on this issue. This is about people wanting their voice back, which means people have to listen. What people have told us is they want appointed local authorities. We will give them what they want, not some expensive and complex system they do not necessarily want. We have to be broadminded and flexible about this. Not every community is the same. Some communities might want culturally-appropriate representation, and they might want to include gender balance and young people, members from local businesses or the local mine, even people from the land council. We are not in the business of being prescriptive and imposing inflexible, expensive and complicated systems on people.
Appointment after nomination is similar to the way advisory committees are formed across government; it is normal. We do not have elections for statutory committees, for instance. The City of Darwin does not have elections for its various committees, and Alice Springs Town Council does not have elections for every committee it puts in place.
It is highly irregular to suggest an elected body should have a subordinate and separately-elected body which is responsible to the higher-level elected body. How complicated is that? Who is representing who? We would not only have elections for councils and wards, but also an extra 63 local authorities. The ramifications and administrative expenses are mind-boggling. The bottom line is it is not necessarily wanted and not necessarily necessary.
We only have to look at the currently operating 59 local boards to see elections are not necessary for local authorities. If we look at the ward elections, six wards had failed elections at the 2012 election and three ward by-elections have failed since the 2012 general election.
As to cost, if local authority elections were run simultaneously across the Territory, it would probably cost around $3m. Yes, it would cost the Territory government because the councils, at this stage, do not have the means to pay. That is just the start. There would be constant by-elections and failed elections at the small local level. Elections are not suited to efficient operations. The electorate, at that level, votes for their representatives on council. That is probably enough voting for most people. I recommend the members for Nelson and Nhulunbuy contact the Northern Territory Electoral Commission on the viability of running these elections.
It has been claimed today that the old community government councils were not democratic. Let us remember the community government councils ran elections for their members. The problem was when the councils did it they did not do it very well. That is where you are trying to send local authorities with this amendment – into an impossible situation. Currently, 39 wards across the shire councils elect council members. We do not believe those areas need another 63 elections. Imagine the extra bureaucracy and administrative load that would be put on councils. How slow would it be to fill vacancies when a costly and time-consuming by-election process has to be gone through?
It could take months for a new member, whereas if members are appointed they can be replaced almost immediately. Do we want council chief executives running elections or delivering services? Do we want scarce local government money used to run elections or provide services? There would be great integrity risk if councils were to run elections. Councils in the past have exhibited that they do not have the skills or resources. Electoral standards are complex, and it is unfair when councils are struggling, as they are, to expect more from them in relation to elections.
We are not about breaking the councils or piling on red tape; we are about making things better. If councils want to run elections for local authorities we will not get in the way. That is a decision they make. If they want to run, through their own means, an election process for local authorities they can. Similarly, if they want to go to the Northern Territory Electoral Commission or the Australian Electoral Office and pay them to do that they can. The means of doing these things is up to them. In many remote communities there are real cultural issues about who the people of authority are. Quite often, that authority is undermined in some regard by elections.
I am not saying they are not allowed to have elections; they can if they want to. However, they have to justify that to their constituents, bearing in mind the scarce funds they have.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister. I have forgotten your quote about the cost of democracy.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, freedom is not free.
Mr WOOD: Yes, all of a sudden that quote is not relevant.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, this is not a free process. We are spending $25m on it as a start.
Mr WOOD: Minister, this will probably cover the three clauses I have because you brought the other one in. There are other ways people can be elected. You have made a big song and dance about how much it will cost. I do not want that, and that is why local government is in here. My footy club would be more democratic than these councils. You could open up nominations for X number of positions in the community. If 20 people put their name down for a council of 14, you have a number of people who could be on it. Then you call an election and find out which of those 20 nominees people want on that committee.
You have a limit of 14 people on these local authorities. You call for nominations, then the council runs a vote where people can elect the 14 people they want on the authority.
There are ways around whether somebody goes off the committee or not. I am sure you could say, if someone goes off the committee, there is no election until such and such. By the way, it is an advisory committee and has enough numbers to keep going. The minimum number is six, so you have plenty of flexibility. There are ways around it to give it some democratic foundation. At the moment, it does not have that because you are taking away the right of people in that authority to decide who will be on it because you are sending it off to the regional council. You are not allowing people who live in the community to make that decision.
I believe something could be adapted, which is not costly, so people have the right to put who they want in there. How they do it I would leave to the council. You can have simple forms for voting but, as I said, my football committee would probably be more democratic than the process you have today.
Before you respond, I do not see anything here which allows a council to elect an authority, it only says ‘appoint’.
Mr TOLLNER: A council can appoint members of an authority. Similarly, a council can allow an election to take place for that authority.
Mr WOOD: Where do you find that? Is it in the act or somewhere else?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, it is not in the act, there is nothing prohibiting it. They can determine that for themselves.
I have a great deal of sympathy for your point of view, member for Nelson. If I put myself in a community I would say, ‘If I have some type of local authority around, I want to have a say in who is on it’. However, there is nothing to restrict that.
Conversely, oddly enough, your amendment would require an election. It would not allow a democratically elected council to appoint a local authority. I have an issue with what you are proposing. I have no issue with a council saying to an authority, ‘Run an election; we will foot the bill; we will think of creative ways of doing it. Let us use Gerry Wood’s football team model as an example.’ I have no problems with that.
Conversely, what you are proposing is they would have to do that. Again, that is the Territory government telling councils how they deal with local people rather than local people telling their councils how they want them to inform the Territory government.
We are about listening and giving a voice to people. Conversely, this amendment, as well-intentioned as it is and I have a great deal of sympathy for it, takes away some of that authority to determine how best to get local authorities up and running.
Mr WOOD: We are getting philosophical here, but governments have a role to play in ensuring democratic processes are upheld, no matter what process you have in government. I have been to places where, if you leave it up to someone else to set the agenda, they will set one which is not democratic. It will be in place forever and a day and people will not be equally represented.
You mentioned culture. I have no problem with the people who own the land being involved in committees and things like that. I see two clear distinctions in local government. Local government is to provide services, in many cases on traditional land, so the cultural side is permission for that local government to provide its services, not to interfere in how the rubbish is picked up, because that is not cultural. The cultural part is the traditional owners allow, for instance, the rubbish pit to be in a certain place so the council can deal with an area of land, and it is their right to do that. You should not mix culture with the provision of essential services because they are different.
When a body is to vote on the budget for that community, you would hope it has support from the people in the community and represents what they all want. The budget may say $10 000 will be spent on putting grass on the football field, and you have some vocal football followers on that committee, when the rest of the community knows the tip is burning every day and does not get enough money to cover it. They want that fixed because they are coughing at night. I would feel more comfortable if decisions were made about those things if people on the authority are genuinely representative of people in that area. The only way I can see that is by some form of election. We could probably argue until the cows come home, but it is a fundamental issue that can be solved simply.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, I have some sympathy for what you are saying. Local areas have to have locally elected people on the council. Those locally elected people are automatically members of the local authority. The local authority will have at least one, perhaps two or three, democratically elected members on it. As you know, when it comes to advisory bodies they are generally appointed. We are talking about a large number of them. We are not ruling out elections. If councils determine their local authorities are to be elected, that is their call. It comes back to your issue of what is most important, the burning rubbish dump where people are breathing in tyre smoke every night or the ability for the local authority to elect its members.
We want local people to make these decisions. We do not want to say, ‘You must have an election’ while in the rubbish dump tyres are burning at night poisoning the whole community. I am sure you follow my point.
Mr WOOD: I do, but I am not saying that. If there is a choice between putting grass on the oval and a fire that is making people sick, I want to ensure a strong lobby group of football fans was not appointed and would say, ‘Blow that, we need some grass on the oval’. A big carnival is coming up and that important issue is not looked at. I would feel more comfortable if decisions and recommendations were made by a group of people truly representative of the area. These are pseudo councils. You keep comparing them with a committee of the government, but you are introducing this to give the local community a say. I do not disagree with that, but I want to ensure the local community is the local community, not a couple of groups with a barrow to push.
Minister, I am happy to finish that section of the debate. I do not know if anyone else wants to speak.
Mr Chair, I believe we have covered my other clauses. If you want to take them together for a vote, which might save time, I am happy to do that.
Mr Chair, I move amendments 8.2 and 8.3 standing in my name. I am putting them forward as the motion this evening.
Amendments 8.1 to 8.3 negatived.
Clause 28, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 29 to 31, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 32:
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.2 standing in my name. This amendment allows the local board or the local authority to elect its own chair and, in the case of a local authority, a member appointed by a local authority as its chair.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.3 standing in my name.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 32, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 33 to 38, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 39:
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.4 standing in my name. Section 71(4) of the Local Government Act currently provides for differential allowances to be fixed by the principal member, the deputy principal member, and other members of the council. This committee stage amendment seeks to extend the differential allowances to the chair of a local authority and local authority members. The reason for this amendment relates to the change in relation to how the chair of a local authority is appointed. As the chair will not necessarily be a council member, it may be appropriate to pay a chair eligible under the guidelines a different amount from other members of the local authority. This would recognise the extra work of a chair, such as contributing to the agenda and running meetings.
Ms WALKER: Mr Chair, I cannot let the moment pass without commenting that what has happened is that the government, which has blown its trumpet about these reforms, got something wrong which was pretty fundamental. Stakeholders said they were not happy with the appointment of an elected member to the chair and wanted to do that from within their own ranks, which is fair enough. However, we have amendments coming through at the 11th hour for such important legislation. That is what happens when you get three Local Government ministers in the space of 12 months; things start falling through the cracks. It is sloppy and indicates you are not listening to people because you have something so basic fundamentally wrong. However, at least you are correcting it. You have listened, albeit a little late, minister.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, I am thrilled you put that last little line in. This is a case of the glass half empty or the glass half full. Clearly, you are doing your job in opposition, pointing out the sky is falling in, we are in serious trouble, we are sloppy and messy, and we are getting things wrong. Our argument is we are listening and are prepared to make changes. It should satisfy the member for Nelson’s concerns about strictness of the guidelines. We are quite prepared to change the guidelines at the drop of a hat, depending on the feedback we get. We want to be flexible and meet community needs. We are listening, and if communities make a valid submission or a representation, we will listen and make the changes. This is an example of that, member for Nhulunbuy.
Ms WALKER: Minister, I want to be very clear about this and ensure we have it on the record. If, for instance, a shire or soon-to-be-named regional council decides to opt out of receiving funds associated with holding their local authority or board meetings, they can still take those funds and put them towards the shortfall in their operational budget. Swimming pools at Areyonga, Kintore and Santa Teresa could use that money for their operational funding to ensure those pools open this summer?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, the decision maker is the council made up of elected members. If elected members are doing things against the wishes of their constituents they will not remain elected members for long, as Barbara McCarthy and Rob Knight found out. If you do not listen to people, or do things people do not want, it is hard to stay elected. It is something we all need to be aware of and cognisant of and, by the way, I am not preaching to you. Within reason, if a council makes a decision it perceives is for the good of the people, is supported by the people, and is listening to the people, as a government we would support them in those decision-making ventures.
Ms WALKER: Thank you, minister, for the lecture and the homily. They can use funds designated for the running of local authorities to fix swimming pools, yes or no?
Mr TOLLNER: We are trying to provide maximum flexibility and allow local people to have a say in what suits them best and meets their needs. If communities say, ‘We have no interest in local government, we do not want a bar of it’ – and there are communities like that in the Territory – we will respect that. We will not force a council on people who do not want one. We will not force an authority on people who do not want one. However, where there is consensus, or as near to consensus as you could get, where people do not want a local authority or a say on local government – I find that difficult to imagine given the feedback we have received across the Northern Territory – people want a voice – I would be stunned if they said they did not. I am sure there are unique communities who do not want that encumbrance and may determine they are happy not to have a local authority and put the money into the ongoing running costs of a swimming pool.
Ms WALKER: I do not mean to keep this going minister, but I need to be very clear about it. I am not talking about communities that do not want a local authority. I am talking about local communities and local authorities which decide they can do their business in the space of three meetings a year even though they are entitled to be funded for up to eight. Can they use the money to meet the shortfall in operating funds to keep their swimming pool open? I am not talking about not having local authorities, but redirecting funds.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes. By way of clarification, they are not limited to any number of meetings. We have guidelines and can change them at any time. If they want to have 120 meetings a year, provided their council says they can meet the cost, it is up to them. Similarly, if they do not want to have meetings or only want one, two or three meetings, and that meets the needs of the communities, they can do that. We are about providing flexibility and responding to the wishes of communities.
Mr WOOD: To make it clear, you gave us a funding of regional councils document which said $165 078 for Barkly. If they have eight meetings per year, that is the budget. If they have four meetings a year, what is left can be spent on patching the road, fixing the swimming pool, etcetera. If they go over the eight meetings a year it is up to them to find the funds, is that correct?
Mr TOLLNER: Let us be totally clear that these are assumptions. We are assuming eight meetings a year.
Ms WALKER: Looking forward to estimates next year, Dave.
Mr TOLLNER: We are assuming an average of 10 members, and we are assuming there will be eight paid meetings. We are not assuming the allowance; that figure is set for a range of different reasons. It does not necessarily only relate to local government; however, we made those assumptions and came up with that number. If they decide they only want one meeting they can put the savings into roads. If they want 16 they will have to find funds somewhere else. This is an indicative figure of what it will cost the regions to have meetings with that many members on their local authority.
Mr WOOD: How will it work in practice if this is only indicative? Will you give them some money when this bill is enacted, or will they have to send you a bill? At some time will you say, ‘I am sorry, you have run out of money because this was not indicative, this was the real amount’. How will you, in practice, fund councils?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, that is a matter for, at this stage, the Cabinet, Treasury and the Budget Review Committee. We have allocated $25m per annum. That may be more or less than we need to carry out this exercise. There will be a full review of how we can improve the revenue-raising capability of councils. It will take time to determine exactly how we fund those organisations.
We want to provide maximum flexibility, but we are not writing a blank cheque. Allowances will be made to each community based on research and funding claims by regions and communities. However, those decisions have not been fully arrived at.
Mr WOOD: Will you be working with the Local Government Association on that, because it is a fairly important issue? We are talking theory at the moment. When we start to talk about real dollars, councils need to know where it sits in the financial year.
Mr TOLLNER: We will be consulting with LGANT, the councils, and people in the communities. We need Treasury and Department of Local Government input, and I am confident we will arrive at the exact numbers as time goes on. We have increased the budget to Local Government from $20m to $25m, which is a 25% increase, and we have found additional money to help with the transitional arrangements.
Many of these things need to play out before we find ourselves in a mature position to have a complete understanding of where every cent is going.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, amendment 7.4, which we have just discussed, is about the differential allowances for the principal member, the deputy principal member, the chair of the local authority, and other members of the council or local authority.
Members opposite, the last amendment we spoke about was clause 39. Clause 32, which we have passed, was in the case of local authority, local board, or council committee – if the chair is not present, or no one currently holds the position of chair, a member may be chosen by members present to chair that meeting. There should not be too many problems with that clause.
Mr WOOD: I wanted clarification on that. Is that any council committee? Surely that was already there, or is this a totally encompassing change? I thought rules for changing the committee chair on a council would be standard.
Mr TOLLNER: You are right, member for Nelson. It is there for committees, but this makes the case for local authorities.
Clause 39, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 40 agreed to.
Clause 41:
Mr WOOD: Clause 41 refers to section 73. There is a simple insertion about local authority, but in general – this is the section on conflict of interest:
How did you handle that when the note for subsection (1) of clause 53C says:
Does that not conflict with section 73 of the existing act?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, I will give you the feedback I have in relation to conflict of interest. A conflict of interest does not arise if the interest is: a question about the level of allowances or expenses to be set for members; an interest the member or associate shares in common with the general public or a substantial section of the public; an interest as an elector or ratepayer the member or associate shares in common with other electors or ratepayers; an interest a member or associate has in a non-profit body or association; an interest of the member or associate in appointment or nomination for appointment to a body with predominantly charitable objects, or in payment or reimbursement of membership fees or expenses related to membership of such a body; or an interest so remote or insignificant that it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to influence a decision. The member advises the meeting and CEO of the conflict in interest. The member must not, without permission of the minister, be present at the meeting while the subject is discussed. A member is guilty of an offence if the member fails to disclose an interest as required or contravenes the related requirement. If the tribunal finds a member has participated in the decision of a local authority contrary to this section the tribunal may, on application by an elector or ratepayer, declare the decision void.
I am not certain, member for Nelson, if that answers your specific question.
Mr WOOD: Am I right in assuming, at present, a member of staff cannot be on a council? Not a local authority, but you cannot have a member of staff on a council?
Mr TOLLNER: An employee cannot be a member of the council, but they can be a member of a local authority. If they are a member of the local authority they must declare they are a paid member of the council as a conflict of interest.
Mr WOOD: As long as they do that it is covered? The safeguard is as long as they declare they have a conflict of interest? People will know they work for the council anyway, but for the sake of the minutes you have to declare it.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, they have to declare it. I have always thought the only worrying conflict of interest is the one you do not know about. It is in everyone’s interest that conflicts of interest be declared so people are fully aware where those conflicts lie.
Mr WOOD: Because you are now setting up something with more teeth, will there be training for people in the local authorities so they understand the legislation, their role, and what you said about conflict of interest?
Mr TOLLNER: There is clearly an expectation that CEOs will be across these issues. I expect the local government associations and others involved, along with the Department of Local Government, will be keeping a keen eye on things and providing advice and education where they can.
Mr WOOD: Could I ask a general question, not because I want to keep going forever but …
Mr TOLLNER: It is not that you do not. Nothing turns you on more than local government, Gerry.
Mr WOOD: It is an important area of governance in the Northern Territory, and I want to ensure it is effective. However, like everything, it needs to come back to parliament at some time, and the government needs to say if it is working or not. Do you have any idea when you can provide a review of the changes or a report on how the advisory bodies are working? I have the concerns I stated previously. Perhaps they might be allayed when you provide the good news story that they are working well and people are feeling good, which I hope happens. Could you set a time to report to parliament on how the new local authorities are going?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, this is a work in progress. It is the foundation of changes to local government. I have an expectation at this stage – that is all it is – we will be back in February debating further changes to the act. I do not want to go into what they might be at this stage; I want to focus on this. Also, there may be changes around regional authority models.
Again, I do not want to talk too much about that, but it is envisaged we will be back within the next six months with more changes. Updates can be provided at that stage. I expect you and the member for Nhulunbuy to be keeping a keen eye on me and to have questions. It is sometimes difficult to dodge scrutiny in these areas, particularly something as controversial as local government, when the opposition still bangs on about how good the shires were and the rest of the Territory thinks they were toxic.
Mr WOOD: What is the start date?
Mr TOLLNER: Local authorities have to be established and operational by June 2014.
Clause 41 agreed to.
Remainder of bill, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.
Mr TOLLNER (Local Government and Regions): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Mr CONLAN (Sport, Recreation and Racing): Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to report to members on the activities and achievements of this government’s active approach to the portfolio of Sport, Recreation and Racing.
There have been subtle changes to our approach and a distinct focus on delivering results. However, our focus remains on encouraging and supporting all Territorians to participate in sport and recreation, whatever their level and ability. The introduction of the Sport Voucher is a testament to our determination to ensure children are playing sport. Our focus is across all Northern Territory regions, and we will be working to ensure not only do our kids play sport, but our young talent get crucial support that might lead to a signing at Adelaide United A-League team, joining Luke Kelly from Katherine at the Parramatta Eels, or following in the footsteps of Aaron Davey at the Melbourne Demons.
On our key achievements, let me start with the creation of a stand-alone department. Sport and recreation is a significant part of our national and Northern Territory psyche, and represents to many who we are. With a relatively young population and our outdoor lifestyle, being involved in sport and recreation either as a player, spectator, volunteer official, or administrator is something that touches nearly every Northern Territory family.
Rather than hide sport and recreation in other portfolios, we ensured it regained the priority it deserved and returned it to a stand-alone department. This means each and every member of that department can give their full attention to delivering and promoting sport and recreation opportunities across the Northern Territory every day.
Once we had sport and recreation back to where it belonged, we set about strengthening relationships with national sporting bodies as a matter of priority. This government has been very active in re-engaging and restoring quality relationships with national bodies such as the Australian Sports Commission, the National Rugby League, the Australian Football League and Cricket Australia. This is because the Northern Territory is a critical part of Australia’s sporting landscape and sport and recreation is a global enterprise.
It is through restoring and developing these relationships we get back to the national agenda and at the forefront of Australia’s sporting bodies. Securing agreements for England to play cricket in Alice Springs, along with agreements with the AFL, the NRL and the A-League, does not come by burying the importance of sport and recreation, it comes from hard work, strong relationships and creating opportunities.
As a result of rebuilding these relationships this government has secured a number of major sporting agreements that will bring top quality national and international sport to the Northern Territory over the next few years, and this is in just 12 months.
While these events add to the Northern Territory lifestyle and provide great entertainment to locals, at the core of all these agreements is game development. We have ensured any agreement entered into with the Northern Territory government will, first and foremost, improve the quality of coaching and development of the sport in the Northern Territory. Better coaches and programs will lead to increased participation, which means healthier Territory children, families and communities.
Let me begin with this government’s first major agreement, bringing international cricket back to the Northern Territory. On 7 May 2013, I announced the Northern Territory government had secured the Chairman’s XI tour match against the England Ashes side. The match is to be played at Traeger Park in Alice Springs from 29 to 30 November 2013, between the first and second Ashes test, breaking a 13-year drought of international cricket at the ground.
The Northern Territory government put enormous effort into securing this game over several months, actively working behind the scenes with Cricket Australia. We know the Ashes is one of the biggest events in Australian sport, and to attract a match between the first and second test will put the Northern Territory front and centre on the world stage. The Chairman’s XI game will help grow the Northern Territory and provide a huge boost for Alice Springs and local businesses as well, with national and international tourists attending the game and experiencing the sites and attractions of Central Australia. The England International test team arrives in Alice Springs on a direct Qantas Boeing 767 flight from Brisbane on Tuesday, 26 November following the first test, and remain until Sunday, 1 December. I thank Qantas for its proactive support of this event.
Tourism NT will utilise the exposure of Central Australia in media around the world during the match to promote the Territory in one of our key international markets, the United Kingdom. Tickets for the game will be available at the gate, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the development of cricket in the Northern Territory. More than 200 corporate tickets have already been sold. The Northern Territory government has been working closely with Cricket Australia, NT Cricket, Tourism Australia and official travel partners in the UK to promote Alice Springs and the Northern Territory and to encourage cricket fans around the world to visit the Northern Territory. We are expecting hundreds of England supporters to travel to Alice Springs to attend this event, as well as national and international media.
Another major agreement this government is immensely proud of is our effort to secure the future growth of rugby league in the Northern Territory. While the popularity of Australian Rules football in the Northern Territory is well-known, rugby league also has a large following in both the Top End and the Centre. The sport’s history in the Northern Territory dates back to 1938, and it continues to grow in popularity with more than 22 000 players registered in the Northern Territory in 2013. Recently, Central Australia rugby league celebrated its 50th anniversary.
With this in mind, shortly after last year’s election victory the new government held talks with the NRL in Sydney to ensure the sport of rugby league continued to grow in the Territory. These talks paid off, and in November last year we secured a deal which would see the third ever NRL game for premiership points played in Darwin.
On 6 July 2013, we saw the Penrith Panthers take on the Gold Coast Titans at TIO Stadium in front of a healthy crowd of 8000. That was the start of things to come. After months of discussions, on 15 August 2013 I was delighted to announce an historic agreement with the Parramatta Eels to secure national rugby league premiership matches played in the Northern Territory until 2018. I was joined by Parramatta club officials and players in Sydney to launch the new four year partnership which begins in 2014.
This announcement is the first time the Northern Territory has partnered with an NRL club to deliver a long-term future of premiership NRL games in the Northern Territory. The agreement will see the Eels play a regular season home game in Darwin, as well as a preseason trial match in Alice Springs in each year of the agreement. These games will inspire more juniors to sign on to rugby league; it is a method that works. After watching NRL stars in action on the weekend, on Monday the children drag mum and dad to their local club to sign up, and that is exactly what we want. An example of this was in Alice Springs in 2006, after the NRL trial match was held, local rugby league saw a 20% increase in juniors signing up for the season.
These games will also deliver significant benefits to the community over the next four years. Our agreement with Parramatta is valued at $4m over four years and is based on four major pillars: the NRL trial match each year; an NRL premiership match each year; sports development – elite pathways and participation; and community engagement programs.
It is important to note this is not a fly-in fly-out agreement. The partnership will see the Eels have a strong, ongoing presence in the Territory. The Eels will be involved in promoting participation in rugby league and touch football to help grow these sports, and the club will conduct training camps and coaching clinics during extended visits to the Territory, working with the NT Institute of Sport to oversee the development of our juniors and coaches from all sports to improve their pathways to the elite level. The club will also be involved in community programs right through the Territory, including remote communities, promoting healthy lifestyles, the importance of numeracy and literacy and going to school.
As part of the agreement, the Northern Territory government will work with the Eels on a new initiative Strong Men, Strong Leadership. The aim is to provide Territory men with strong role models using Parramatta players to inspire better life choices and combat issues such as alcoholism and domestic violence. As well as the sporting and social benefits, Western Sydney is also the third largest economy in Australia and we look forward to growing the Northern Territory through this agreement.
A sign of the commitment by both parties to this agreement could be seen just three weeks after this announcement when the team from Parramatta Eels spent two days visiting their new home away from home in the Northern Territory. The visit saw the club touring top-class sporting facilities both in Darwin and Alice Springs: Richardson Park and TIO Stadium in Darwin, Anzac Oval in Alice Springs. I am delighted to report the Eels left the Territory incredibly impressed saying their decision to play in Alice Springs was an absolute no-brainer and it is a shame they had to wait another five months to play here.
While I have made it clear these agreements with national sporting bodies will help increase participation at the grassroots level of these sports, another aim of these agreements is to develop pathways to allow our talented young athletes to excel and realise their dreams of representing the Territory or Australia at the elite level of their chosen sport. The agreement I announced on 6 September 2013 with A-League club Adelaide United is the most telling example of this. At first glance once might think this is a just a match or sponsorship agreement, but it provides a grassroots development focus on the sport of soccer. Adelaide United will be providing assistance and expertise to improve the quality of junior coaching in Alice Springs with dedicated programs and activities. A full-time development officer will be employed to carry out this program in Alice Springs and Central Australia. In addition, talented juniors will have the opportunity to trial for places in the Adelaide United National Youth League Team, a stepping stone to the A-League itself. As part of this agreement I am excited to announce Adelaide United will guarantee at least one position on this team each year to a young Territorian.
The National Youth League plays 18 home and away games a season and is a direct pathway to the A-League. This is a fantastic incentive every young Territory player can strive for. A place in this team will mean our young homegrown talent will be put under the eye of talent scouts from across Australia and overseas which could lead to elite levels of this sport.
Adelaide United will host a pre-season training camp in Alice Springs which will provide a chance for Territory coaches and players to see, firsthand, the dedication and requirements of playing at the highest level in the country. This will occur in both 2014 and 2015. During the training camp a Northern Territory representative will have the chance to play a practice match against Adelaide United, and at the end of the camp Adelaide United will play another A-League game in a full trial match. For the modest investment of $150 000 a season for two seasons, we believe this is money well spent for football development.
Football Federation Northern Territory reports in 2012 there were 3124 registered players in the Northern Territory. We envisage, through the Adelaide United agreement, this number will continue to rise.
As well as securing these exciting new agreements for Territorians, this government has also set about reinvigorating old agreements signed under the previous government. This, in particular, is the case for the 2010-14 agreement signed by the previous government with the AFL which expires at the end of the 2014 season.
A strong relationship has quickly developed between this government and the Melbourne Football Club as we seek to leverage more Territorians out of this existing agreement. This can be seen by the Demons holding their annual pre-season training camp in Darwin and Palmerston in December last year. Around 60 players and support staff attended the nine day camp which allowed our young up and coming footballers to rub shoulders with some of the AFL’s elite athletes.
The players stayed at Robertson Barracks during their visit and held training camps and community clinics in Palmerston. The club also conducted a full clinic in Jabiru as part of their visit and participated in a gruelling 28 km hike through Kakadu which, through national media exposure of the camp, showcased one of our great natural wonders to the rest of Australia.
On 20 March 2013, the government’s relationship with the Melbourne Football Club was taken a step further with my announcement Tourism NT had signed a new sponsorship agreement with the club. The desire was to leverage what we could out of the remaining AFL games in the Territory by creating a connection between Melbourne and the Northern Territory, being tourism.
This government understands sport and tourism are intrinsically linked and, therefore, can provide substantial benefits to the Territory economy. We are also very aware of the high profile ALF has around the country, and its strong links and engagement with the Territory. Sponsoring the Demons will enable us to tap into the AFL’s massive following, particularly in Melbourne. The Demons’ membership fits our target market demographic of visitors over the age of 50, with high income and a high preference for long travel stays.
A key aspect of this agreement has been using the Demons’ membership database to attract business events to the Northern Territory which, as we know, have substantial flow-on effects to the economy. A consumer competition we ran in June using that database generated 120 000 entries.
The Demons also have a dedicated business network database containing 2400 contacts, and we have been targeting these for the upcoming Meetings Muster trade events in October. Three active leads have already eventuated, with the NT Convention Bureau working hard to confirm. If confirmed, these events will deliver an estimated 700 new delegates, resulting in a $2.5m injection into the local economy.
The sponsorship agreement includes many marketing opportunities such as the Tourism NT logo appearing on the coach’s box and team board on game days, the club’s media polo shirts, signage in MCG change rooms, and coverage on the media club’s backdrop. This has led to significant media exposure for Tourism NT, with the coach’s box regularly shown on televised games watched by hundreds of thousands of footie fans every week, together with the media backdrop scene on various news broadcasts around Australia.
However, perhaps the best demonstration of this mass exposure could be seen a few weeks ago when the legendary Paul Roos was named as the new Melbourne football coach. There will be no mistaking the strong connection between the Territory and the Demons with our famous brolga logo shown repeatedly in pictures and vision online, in television and print from media conferences.
Whilst we do not have the final figures with the season just completed, it is anticipated the sponsorship agreement has enabled Tourism NT to tap into over $1m worth of media exposure through the AFL season this year - a very healthy return on the $200 000 investment.
I touched on other aspects of this partnership in my tourism statement delivered to the House in August, but I can further report that since taking over the top job, Paul Roos has continued Melbourne’s commitment to the Territory through a video on the club’s website and YouTube channel. This commitment is the whole Territory, not just Darwin. We expect to have some exciting news about AFL games in the Territory in the near future demonstrating this.
The Northern Territory community expects to witness top-class national sport on a regular basis in their own back yard. The significant new arrangements I have mentioned will provide for ongoing fixtures to be held in Alice Springs and Darwin. I have already mentioned how these agreements are strongly focused on development and increasing participation.
However, a key imperative of our work in this area is to leverage tourism and economic benefits in these arrangements, which I mentioned was a key focus with Melbourne and the AFL because Territorians expect value for money. I want to make it clear the partnership between the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing and Tourism NT has been instrumental in leveraging a ‘whole club whole Territory’ focus to what we are trying to achieve. In this way, we are setting ourselves apart from previous agreements with peak national bodies. Dealing with the clubs directly will ensure the Northern Territory gets more than just a game and more bang for our buck.
Our goal is to encourage sports fans around Australia to combine their passion with a holiday to the Northern Territory. The sporting events I outlined will help achieve our vision of growing tourism expenditure in the Territory from $1.4bn to $2.2bn by 2020. That will help build a more prosperous Territory economy and create more jobs for Territorians.
As well as the Melbourne Demons sponsorship, we will be pushing Territory tourism through our partnership with Parramatta. We have signed an agreement which will see our new tourism brand ‘Do the NT’ on Adelaide United’s playing strips for the next two seasons. This $200 000 a season investment from Tourism NT will see various campaigns conducted encouraging South Australians to travel to the Centre and the Top End. This season, Adelaide United will be playing eight games on SBS free-to-air television on Friday nights. It is the first time A-League games have been broadcast on free-to-air television live, and it will bring the NT logo into households across Australia.
These sponsorship arrangements are bold and breaking new ground for the Territory, but we have seen them work in other states and jurisdictions and are confident that, at the end of the day, they will benefit the Territory by bringing more visitors here.
Apart from these major sporting agreements, this government has also introduced a new scheme into the Northern Territory to increase the number of children participating in organised sport - the $4m Sport Voucher Scheme. I am pleased the election promise of a $75 sport voucher for junior sport participation became a reality soon after this new government formed in August last year, with the vouchers out to families at the start of the 2013 school year. The objective of the Sport Voucher Scheme is for every enrolled school age child across the Northern Territory to receive a Sport Voucher up to the value $75 to help cover the costs of playing organised sport.
Overall, approximately 45 000 children across the Northern Territory will have an opportunity to benefit from the scheme. So far, over 10 600 children in urban centres and 6000 in remote communities have utilised the vouchers which are being accepted by over 168 sporting clubs across the Northern Territory.
Members may be interested to know in urban areas the most popular sports for redeeming vouchers this year have been soccer, netball, basketball, rugby league and tennis. In remote areas swimming, gymnastics and netball are also very popular. The Northern Territory government’s Sport Voucher Scheme is easing the financial pressure of playing organised sport and ensuring sport is accessible to all young Territorians. The vouchers are for all government and non-government schoolchildren, and allow children to sign up and try a sport without the normal significant financial outlay for fees and uniforms by parents.
We have received some very positive feedback from some local sports clubs who have seen junior registration increase this year, and also an increase in the number of parents and families paying their club fees up front because of the vouchers. This gives clubs certainty in its player numbers and the ability to have funds in the bank to purchase new equipment and pay training facility hire fees.
The vouchers can be redeemed until 30 November 2013. If parents have not used it yet, there is still plenty of time to enrol their child in a brand new sport.
By attracting more kids into organised sport, the Sport Vouchers are helping keep children fit and healthy while benefitting families and the community as a whole. To ensure all children can benefit from the scheme, a separate model was rolled out for remote areas across the Northern Territory.
I am delighted to report some of the programs and opportunities remote students have benefited from include the Sandover Group School in Central Australia pooling their funding to purchase the mobile athletics carnival trailer, and Elliott School providing all students with an equestrian program for two weeks.
After discussions with school principals and local sport leaders, Tennant Creek was included in the urban model and the town held a Sport Voucher sign-on carnival on 24 April this year to maximise the opportunity for parents to redeem the Sport Voucher.
Another election promise this government quickly followed through on was our commitment to increase funding to peak sporting bodies in the NT. To assist peak sporting bodies and active recreation organisations address governance, financial and sustainability issues, this government immediately provided an additional $1.75m, bringing the total funding to around $5.6m to 59 peak sporting bodies and active recreation organisations late in 2012. We repeated the dose in 2013-14.
The role of being a peak sporting body is not easy. Associations and clubs located outside Darwin are always seeking their slice of the pie and often feel neglected, but being a peak sporting body means you need to ensure the sport develops all over the Northern Territory not just in Darwin. The Australian and Territory sport system relies on clubs feeding into associations and associations feeding into peak bodies. We need to ensure there is enough strength at each step.
We understand writing grant applications takes time and effort by volunteers, therefore the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing has been running information sessions to help clubs prepare applications. These sessions are running through the month of October. The department is also delivering seminars in Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin, with the focus on helping grassroots clubs succeed. The seminar includes topics such as club fundraising, marketing, social media and creating a positive club culture.
In total, this government provided over $10m in funding and other grants in the 2013-14 budget. This included $2.3m for the Active Remote Communities Grant Program. This provides funding for employment of about 150 to 160 community Sport and Recreation Officers to deliver sustainable sport and active recreation programs in remote Indigenous communities.
Some programs helping to increase participation in sport in remote communities include: $30 000 to support the John Moriaty Football Project in Borroloola; $50 000 to NT Cricket to hold the Imparja Cup in Alice Springs; $75 000 to the Central Australian Redtails Football Club to support involvement in the 2013-14 NTFL competition; support for the Victoria Daly Shire Council at Daly River to hold the three-day Merrepen Festival in June 2013, where 17 AFL teams, five softball teams, seven women’s basketball teams and five men’s basketball teams competed; and support for the West Arnhem Shire Council to conduct men’s and women’s basketball competitions at Maningrida.
The Roper Gulf Shire AFL completion ran from April to September with junior women’s and men’s senior competitions. Batchelor community has a fortnightly basketball competition comprised of four mixed teams ranging in age from nine to 15-year olds which run from March to December. The McDonnell Shire organises sport competitions at Santa Teresa for basketball which runs all year round.
In early June this year, the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing assisted with running the Barunga festival for AFL, softball and basketball competitions, which saw around 452 individuals competing from ages 10 to 55.
The quality of sport and recreation facilities is crucial to participation in sport. Improved facilities will lead to more Territorians being more active and healthy. Better standards and facilities are also required to attract major sporting events. With this in mind, this government has set about delivering major upgrades which will improve a number of facilities across the Northern Territory, providing a welcome boost to a number of different sports.
An amount of $2.8m has been allocated to upgrade Anzac Oval in Alice Springs in order to improve the change rooms and the amenity for players and officials, as well as spectator facilities. Anzac Oval is home to a number of sports, including rugby league and rugby union, as well as being used by schools and for major events such as the Masters Games. The upgrade to Anzac Oval was an election commitment and delivered by this government in the December 2012 mini-budget.
The planned upgrades will include increased seating capacity with the introduction of the new grandstand, additional change rooms, an upgraded servery, a medical room, and an upgrade to the corporate area, including potential for a lift for disabled access. Works are expected to be completed by January 2014, and the new-look ground is expected to be ready for the first match with the Parramatta Eels in February 2014.
In October 2012, this government delivered on an election funding commitment of $300 000 as part of a joint $1.8m project with the federal government to upgrade the Jingili BMX circuit. The Jingili BMX track is an open air venue currently only allowing BMX to coordinate competitions throughout the Dry Season. That is out of sync with interstate competitions and severely hampers Territory riders when competing and training for interstate, national and international competitions. This project will see a roof constructed over the Jingili BMX circuit which will enable riders from all over the Northern Territory to train and compete during the Wet Season for the first time. The covered circuit will be the first of its kind in Australia. It has the backing of the International Cycling Union and will provide opportunities to develop relationships with the fast growing BMX race scene in Asia, including China and Japan
The Northern Territory has produced several national champions in BMX, and the new all-weather circuit will greatly assist in producing many more champions in the future. Construction commenced in late September with completion expected in January 2014, subject to weather conditions.
This government also promptly honoured another election promise delivering $300 000 to the Satellite City BMX Club in Palmerston for minor new works. Some aspects of the project are under way, with all works set to be completed by October 2014. These include a new clubhouse/canteen with toilet block and amenities, and upgrades to the track and starters hill to national BMX standards. The Satellite City BMX Club was established in 1986 and has approximately 150 riders. While much investment has been made in so-called major sports over the years, it is also important to remember lesser-known sports which have a long history in the Territory and deserve attention from government. BMX is one of those sports.
The December mini-budget also saw $300 000 to the Alice Springs Golf Club to create a sustainable business plan and complete urgent repairs and maintenance, which was an election commitment of the Country Liberal Party. Without this support the club was in real jeopardy of being forced to close its doors. The club was facing ongoing periods of falls in operating income, operating deficits and cash shortfalls, which exposed it to a potentially insolvent trading position. This, quite simply, would have been a disaster for the town of Alice Springs. The club has 1227 financial members, including full and social, and is situated on an urban housing estate and, as such, is an important consideration to the health of the real estate market in that area. Built by Australian golfing legend Peter Thomson during the early 1980s, the course has been rated in the top 100 in Australia and the top 10 desert courses in the world because of its unique position at the foothills of the majestic MacDonnell Ranges. It is the only golf course in Alice Springs and, as such, is a major sporting facility in the town, just as TIO Stadium or Hidden Valley is in Darwin. Therefore, like these facilities, it needs to be maintained. It is vital the Alice Springs Gold Club remains a key recreation and tourism attraction of the town to ensure ongoing economic benefits to Central Australia. I am pleased to report the club has completed its business plan and is on track to sustain a more solid financial footing securing its future in Alice Springs, which is great news.
An amount of $45 000 was allocated to upgrade the lighting of the Alice Springs Karting Club. Construction on the new light towers commenced in July 2013, and the expected completion time is October 2014. The Australian karting titles were held from 4 to 7 October at the Alice Springs Karting Club with over 300 karts competing. The NT titles were held from 27 to 29 September. Estimates are around 1500 people attending both events providing a boost to the local economy.
An amount of $2.5m was also allocated last year to help build the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre at TIO Stadium.
While I have touched on popular sports in the Northern Territory like Aussie rules, rugby league, soccer and cricket, it is no secret motor sport also has a huge following in the Northern Territory. This government recognises ongoing maintenance and upgrades to our sporting facilities is essential to provide safe and appropriate venues for Territorians to participate in all forms of sport. As such, this government announced significant funding in the 2013-14 budget to improve our motor sport facilities at Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex and ensure we retain major events such as the V8 Supercars, the Australian Superbikes and the ANDRA Pro Series, while also opening up opportunities to bring more national competitions to Darwin.
The cornerstone of these announcements was the $9.42m investment in upgrading the Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex. While the Northern Territory government has an agreement to host the V8 Supercars event in Darwin until 2018, the Hidden Valley circuit must meet strict licensing and safety standards in order to stage the local motor sports events each year. The multimillion dollar upgrades I announced will ensure the Hidden Valley motor sports facility remains in peak condition and continues to meet these licensing and safety standards so Darwin can continue to host the V8s, and other national level events, for many years to come.
The importance of events like the V8 Supercars cannot be underestimated. They have multiple flow-on effects to tourism, local businesses and, of course, the economy, not to mention they are a great weekend or day out for the entire family.
This year’s V8 Supercars attracted over 46 000 local and interstate visitors. In 2012, the V8 Supercars injected an estimated $32m into the Northern Territory economy. Over $5m was allocated for Hidden Valley in the 2013-14 budget for resurfacing of the 2.9 km track circuit and upgrading sections of the existing tyre walls to concrete barriers to meet national safety standards required by both Motorcycling Australia and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to host national and local sporting events.
An additional $4.12m will be provided in 2014-15 to upgrade sewerage services, toilet blocks, drainage, and redesign Turn One of the circuit to increase safety in the area. The circuit surface at Hidden Valley has deteriorated over time and, as a result of general usage and the extreme weather conditions, has not been upgraded since its original reconstruction in 1997. Some sections of the service date back to the mid-1980s when the original race circuit was constructed. The quality of the circuit is a consideration for licensing of the complex by Motorcycling Australia and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, and without these licenses most of the major events at Hidden Valley could not take place.
The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Chief Executive issued a media release shortly after this announcement welcoming our investment and congratulating this government on its contribution to Australian motor sport. It is expected some of the upgrades will be completed before the 2014 race season commences, and the remaining upgrades to Hidden Valley will commence mid-July 2014.
Supporting this government’s whole of Northern Territory focus, motorsport in Central Australia did not miss out and also received significant funding in the May budget with a $500 000 capital grant upgrade for the Alice Springs Inland Dragway. The Centre has been neglected in the past but this government is determined to grow our regions, and drag racing provides economic benefits and great entertainment to the community. The funding will allow the Central Australian Drag Racing Association to host more big national events like the Desert Nationals.
Held in Alice Springs for the first time in June 2013, the Desert Nationals saw 150 drivers and their crews travel to the Centre from around Australia, providing a boost for local businesses. The project will see concrete barriers constructed all the way along the quarter mile strip and lighting installed at the facility. The new barriers will mean the drag strip can be upgraded to higher safety standards which will enable the track to attract faster cars and more drivers.
This government is also delivering much-needed shade shelters to the Palmerston Water Park the previous government overlooked when constructing the project. Budget 2013-14 provides $200 000 to construct shade shelters over the children’s wet play area and around the park area.
An additional $150 000 will be spent on building a new child safety barrier and a new shade shelter over the rock pools at Howard Springs. We want Territory children to enjoy our great outdoors and the warm climate as much as possible, but we also want to ensure they are protected from the harmful effects of the sun. These shade shelters will allow children to cool off safely and will mean a more comfortable day out for mums and dads.
This government is also protecting the future of the Palmerston Water Park and Leanyer Recreational Park through an extra $1.2m in funding in the 2013-14 budget to meet ongoing operational costs. Once again, it is critical funding the previous government, sadly, never provided.
In addition to these significant sporting facilities, the Territory is also home to many smaller venues which are used day in, day out by small clubs and sporting organisations. This government recognises these facilities are just as important as other major stadiums and ovals around the Territory, and has moved to continue upgrading and developing the standard of these facilities to the benefit of all Territorians. As I said, improved facilities will lead to more people participating in sport, which means healthier Territorians, which mean healthier communities.
I recently announced over $1m in smaller facility grants that provide a much-needed facility boost at grassroots level. It was great for me to make this announcement in Katherine. In all, 32 sporting organisations across the Northern Territory will benefit from the 2013 facility and capital grant investment program which provides grants to important infrastructure upgrades. The facility and capital investment program was open to all Territory clubs, groups, peak sporting bodies, active recreation organisations, service deliverers, as well as shire and municipal councils. Each organisations could apply for a maximum grant of $50 000 per year. The funding will expand the range and reach of sporting organisations across the Territory and enhance their ability to deliver affordable and accessible sport and recreation opportunity competitions, events, and programs through development of their facilities.
Some examples of how this funding directly supports smaller clubs and associations include: $43 500 to improve irrigation at the Katherine Country Club; $20 000 to upgrade the basketball court at Timber Creek; $38 000 to upgrade the cycling centre in Alice Springs; $50 000 for upgrades at the Gove Squash Club; $13 000 for softball oval upgrades at Engawala; $50 000 for new cricket training nets in Palmerston, a facility so old the club has resorted to using fishing nets; and $50 000 for a new surf sports training facility at Lake Alexander.
Active recreation organisations such as Girl Guides, Riding for the Disabled, the YMCA and Scouts have also received funding as part of the programs, which will allow them to continue to deliver their important service to Territorians. This government is committed to building a confident culture in all our communities focusing on a healthy, active and enjoyable lifestyle, taking advantage of the unique features of the Northern Territory. These grants will allow this to occur.
Unfortunately, Sports House has reached the end of its economic life with the air conditioning breaking down. This necessitated the department relocating and administration-based tenants being offered alternative accommodation at Ethos House. The department continues to work with other tenants, including Badminton, Sub-Aqua and the Radio Club to find suitable alternate accommodation.
When talking about our sporting facilities, it is worth nothing this government is also focused on the ongoing upkeep and maintenance of these facilities. As I said before, this government is seeking to leverage tourism and business benefits from sporting events. Therefore, it is important we pay attention to visiting tourists and corporate guests at our fixtures and events. On this side of the Assembly, we want southerners to visit the Northern Territory and watch a national level of sporting fixtures, but we need to ensure they have a quality experience. Our sporting bodies need to understand the presentation of facilities, especially those leased from the government, are professionally turned out and maintained at a very high level.
Other achievements and a key focus of this government over the past 12 months have been to attract more national championships to the Northern Territory. It might not be well-known that the Northern Territory has hosted several national championships this year which have all been successful in bringing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of sportspeople to the Territory, putting money back into our economy. I will expand on a few to the House.
The Hottest 7s: this government committed $160 000 to fund the 2013 Hottest 7s in the World in January – more funding not allocated in the 2012-13 budget by the previous government. This tournament allows rugby fans across the Top End to see talented and professional athletes compete over two days at Rugby Park, Marrara. Rugby Sevens has been accepted as an Olympic sport from 2016, allowing this tournament to act as a stepping stone for potential Olympians. The influx of athletes and staff provides an economic boost to Darwin businesses in a traditionally off-peak period for visitors to the city.
In 2013, a record 49 teams competed for a share of $65 000 in prize money. The event saw over 700 elite athletes compete from six countries, including players from the New Zealand and Samoan national teams. Spectators totalling 3800 attended the Hottest 7s compared to 2100 at the pre-season trial match between the Canberra Brumbies and the Western Force, which cost double the amount to stage. This is why we made the difficult decision to not renew the government’s $300 000 a year contract with the Brumbies and instead focus on growing the Hottest 7s and making that event bigger and better for rugby fans. In these tough economic times, we need to prioritise our sporting events and ensure we are delivering high quality sport at a reasonable cost to Territorians.
The Surf Life Saving Inflatable Boat Rescue Championships: 2013 was an exciting time when history was made with the first ever Australian Inflatable Boat Rescue Championships held at Mindil Beach, Darwin. For the first time the Territory had its own team competing in the national championships. More than 400 athletes from around Australia competed in the championships, with around 600 involved all up including coaches, team managers, support crews, and the event could not have been made possible without the government contributing $50 000 to help stage it.
From 29 September to 5 October 2013 the Northern Territory hosted the 32nd AFL Masters National Carnival, the first time since 2008. The carnival saw more than 1300 players, officials and supporters attend from all over Australia competing in over 35s to over 55s, inspiring people of all ages to keep active and healthy. This government ensured the event could be held in Darwin with $30 000 in funding as well as in-kind support. We know events like the AFL Masters showcase our regions is a great place to visit and provides support for local tourism, small business and jobs.
Other national sporting championships and competitions held in the Northern Territory in 2013 include: the Indigenous All Stars versus Richmond in Alice Springs, where a crowd of 5000 attended the game which saw national media spend the weekend in Central Australia; the WNBL game, West Coast Waves versus Sydney University in Alice Springs; the Imparja Cup; the NAB pre-season AFL game, West Coast versus Port Adelaide in Alice Springs; the Women’s Australian Under 21 Hockey Championship; the Underage National Netball Championship; the Finke Desert Race; Drag racing, with the first ever Desert Nationals in Alice Springs and the ANDRA Pro Series and Aeroflow Sportsman Championship in Darwin; the Darwin International Squash Doubles Championship; the Australian Veterans Table Tennis Championship; and the Alice Springs Pro Tour Tennis International.
This government is also determined to reinvigorate the Masters Games, which will be held in Alice Springs in October 2014. In the early 1980s the Australian Sports Commission first suggested the idea of the Masters Games and the philosophy of masters sport. The Northern Territory government immediately embraced the idea seeing potential opportunities for economic and social development benefits and, in 1986, the first ever Masters Games event in Australia was held in Alice Springs. The Games quickly developed into a success story and earned the reputation of the ‘friendly games’ because of the camaraderie and good-spirited nature of the competitors and the environment created by the games village atmosphere of Alice. The Masters Games, and the way it captures the spirit of our town every two years, is something I have not seen anywhere else in the country. It is unique to the Territory and the Centre. It is a fantastic event and we want to make it even better and return it to its glory days.
That is why this government has established a Masters Games Steering Committee after seeking expressions of interest this year. The committee will be made up of volunteers and will set the direction of the 2014 Games to ensure they remain on track to be enjoyed by participants from all over Australia. Its job will be to provide input to help improve the overall quality and experience of the Games, link the local community with the Games and its associated activities, and increase participation.
With the new committee members and a new focus, along with the return of Tigerair to Alice Springs, the 2014 Masters Games should be another great success and something Alice Springs and all Territorians can be proud of.
For national, state and territory peak sporting bodies, 2013 has also seen a renewed emphasis on the issue of drugs in sport and, by extension, organised crime in sport. I joined other state and territory Sport and Recreation ministers in ensuring a firm response to this issue. In the Northern Territory this has been reflected in recent legislation introduced into the Assembly regarding match fixing.
The Chief Executive of the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing wrote to peak sporting bodies and Northern Territory Institute of Sport athletes and staff reminding them of their obligations from being involved in the national sporting system and to report actions and behaviours which contradict the World Anti-Doping Code and threaten the integrity of the sport in the Northern Territory.
The recent match fixing issue with soccer in Victoria is a demonstration this criminal activity can be felt at state or territory competition level. That is why this government acted swiftly to pass legislation to protect the integrity of professional sport by ensuring those engaged in match fixing in the Northern Territory face serious penalties. Amendments to the Criminal Code (Cheating and Gambling) Bill introduced by the Attorney-General recently include five new offences to prohibit cheating or fraud in sports betting which can carry up to seven years’ imprisonment. Match fixing is a serious offence with tougher penalties which will act as a deterrent for those considering participating in such activities. The changes are part of the national push to protect integrity in Australian sport.
The Northern Institute of Sport, NTIS, has had a pivotal role in the development of Northern Territory sporting talent since its inception in 1996. It houses the National Heat Training and Acclimatisation Centre, and has been endorsed by the Australian Olympic Committee as an Olympic training centre and the Australian Sports Commission as a national training centre. The Northern Territory Institute of Sport has a role in enhancing the overall system of high performance sport in the Northern Territory, working with peak sporting bodies so they can develop their own programs leading into the Territory Institute of Sport.
The development of NT Thunder, the NT Pearls and Stingers and, most recently, the NT Strike in the new South Australian premier league for cricket all point to the Northern Territory sporting sector developing more opportunities for talented athletes and a continuing role for the Northern Territory Institute of Sport.
However, this government is determined that the Northern Territory Institute of Sport continues to provide the right direction and support to athletes and the sector at the right time. The Australian Sports Commission recently completed a review of the operation of the Institute. From that I am pleased to report we are headed on the right track, but, as always, improvements can be made. In particular and in support of the national performance plan, Australia’s Winning Edge, the Institute will concentrate on supporting coaches, athletes and peak sporting bodies ensuring the right support is provided at the right time. The Institute will be entering into new sporting agreements at the start of 2014, and will be working to ensure the provision of quality coaches across our sporting environment remains a high focus.
Let us touch on Racing. One industry that merges sport and recreation more than any other is racing, and I am proud to be the Northern Territory Racing minister. The racing industry is hard-working and resilient, a fact never more evident than at this year’s Darwin Cup after the tragic death of leading female jockey, Simone Montgomerie.
The industry is also a substantial contributor to the Northern Territory economy, attracting thousands of interstate visitors to the Territory each year. That is why this government allocated $14.7m in the 2013-14 budget to assist the thoroughbred racing industry conduct race meetings and maintain facilities across the Territory.
Like the other sports I mentioned previously, this government has also gone about ensuring we leverage tourism benefits off our cup carnivals and gain maximum exposure in the Territory. For instance, over the final week of the 2013 Darwin Cup Carnival we arranged for Sky Racing Channel presenter and well-known jockey, Bernadette Cooper, to wear the special one-off jockey silks featuring our brolga logo and the travelnt.com website. The brolga was prominently displayed during coverage of the event on Sky Racing Channel 1, Sky Racing 2, and Sky Racing World, with the broadcast going to more than 50 countries including the US, the UK and South Africa.
This government has plans to further develop our racing industry and allow the sector to develop business opportunities for own-source revenue to supplement its government funding. I am pleased to say some of that is well under way.
Greyhound racing is also another recreation pastime enjoyed by Territorians. In the 2013-14 budget this government took steps to secure the future of this industry which has recently gone through difficult financial times. In 2011-12, the Racing Commission was forced to appoint an administrator to the Darwin Greyhound Association to review its operations. To ensure the ongoing viability of the industry the Northern Territory government committed to a new three-year funding agreement with the Darwin Greyhound Association which includes an additional $230 000 to bring total funding for 2013-14 to $800 000. The additional $230 000 in 2013 will allow the Darwin Greyhound Association to maintain its prize money which will entice more interstate visitors and lead to more runners. This funding will assist the Darwin Greyhound Association with industry development and help conduct race meetings and maintain the facility at Winnellie.
It is also hoped the new funding agreement will allow Darwin greyhound racing to be broadcast nationally and internationally on Sky Channel, something we are working hard to achieve.
I would like to conclude by highlighting some of the programs and activities we can look forward to over the next 12 months. There is the Women’s National Basketball League match featuring the West Coast Waves to be played in Alice Springs in November; the Chairman’s XI versus England tour match in Alice Springs. Securing this event is a testament to the development of Traeger Park and the commitment of many individuals over many years to developing both facilities and the game of cricket. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Alice Springs and the Territory to the world, and we hope it does not stop there.
We also have the 2014 Hottest 7s Rugby tournament in January; the pre-season Australian Football League and national Rugby League games in Alice Springs through February and March; the Imparja Cricket Cup; the NT Sports Awards; the premiership AFL and NRL games; the Alice Springs Cup Carnival and the Darwin Cup Carnival; a pre-season A-League game; the Finke Desert Race; the V8s at Hidden Valley; the National Polocrosse Championships to be held in Darwin; the Alice Springs Masters Games; and the 2014 round of the $75 children’s Sport Vouchers.
Of particular interest is our plan to take the Northern Territory Sports Awards Territory-wide by allowing all major regions to share in this annual celebration of Northern Territory sport. All sports from the Top End to Katherine to Alice Springs will get a turn hosting this prestigious night. This shows the government’s strong focus to support a whole-of-Territory approach.
Of course, there are many more activities too numerous to list. The fact remains this government will continue to drive support and funding at grassroots level, provide pathways for our talented juniors, position and represent the Territory’s best interest nationally, and increase participation across all sports and all ages. I am very pleased to be the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing, and proud of what has been achieved so far. A lot has been done, and there is much more to do
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr Acting DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the next speaker, I would like to recognise Mr Steven Hennessey, Deputy Mayor of the Victoria Daly Shire, welcome.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the member for Johnston is unwell so I am responding on behalf of the opposition. I thank the Chief Minister for indicating that the statement will be adjourned later tonight rather than wrapped. This will give the member for Johnston, the shadow minister for Sport, an opportunity to talk to the statement at a later date. He left me copious notes, for which I thank him.
In the sport and recreation area we are often bipartisan. We may have arguments occasionally, but we love our sport. The minister indicated that in his early remarks where he spoke about the subtle changes to our approach within the Sport and Recreation portfolio area. We inherited Sport and Recreation from the CLP in 2001, and they have inherited it from us in 2012, and, by and large, we are heading in the same direction and much of it is about pathways. Sport provides, in more ways than any other area, a pathway out. People can see from junior sport through to mature success what you can achieve in sport. It provides a pathway out; a line of hope.
Sport also brings individuals and communities together. The minister listed a range of sports and events we can look forward to.
While we have the Mayor of Alice Springs here, the minister mentioned the Masters Games and how the government is refreshing the Games. That sounds fantastic and we will be happy to work with them on that. The Masters Games is huge, important, and fantastic. How can we make it better?
He also mentioned the Finke Desert Race. Obviously, that is close to the heart of Damien Ryan, who is part of what keeps the Finke Desert Race pumping. My grandfather was one of the founders of the Finke Desert Race and valued the work Damien did, and still does, to keep the Finke Desert Race going. It is an important event which keeps Alice Springs on the national and international stage and sees the majority of the town out camping. I love the time I have, which is rare, when I get to the Finke Desert Race and camp at one of the fuel pit stops with Gogs and others. It is one of the best weekends you can have.
Sport has an amazing capacity to bring communities and individuals together and have a positive impact on people. Other things can do that too. The Darwin Festival is a good example of bringing individuals and communities together, but sport has a great capacity to make people equal. By and large, we have a bipartisan approach to the Sport and Recreation policies.
The minister listed a key achievement of creating a stand-alone department. I am not necessarily for or against a stand-alone department; there are cases either way. A stand-alone department does not create greater sporting opportunities or a better sporting community. People in sport and recreation – some are probably listening right now – do an amazing job. It is one of the more difficult areas to work in, and I am sure the minister has realised this.
The people you meet in sport and recreation are passionate and one-eyed. When they talk to you about their club or their sporting organisation, they do not care about anyone else’s. You cannot necessarily have a rational conversation with them about where the funding is going and or how it is broken up. If their club needs money, their club has to get money. You might meet a professional lobbyist from a different area, such as the Cattlemen’s Association, but I will not pick on them as they have a very good lobby group. You might be able to have a rational conversation with them.
Waratah Hockey Club, the Pint Club, or the Polocrosse Association will not always be rational. They want the best for their group and are one-eyed. Politics in sport is sometimes very intense. The people at Sport and Recreation – I am sure the minister is across this – at times deal with incredibly difficult situations. Anyone who has spent time in a sporting environment would appreciate that competition on the field does not always stop there; they are very competitive off the field too. I am sure staff at Sport and Recreation do a fantastic job whether it is a stand-alone department or not. They are terrific people.
Labor had a fantastic relationship with national peak sporting bodies, and the CLP has continued to invest in those relationships. We saw a series of major events come to town during the last 10 or 12 years which we were very proud of. We were proud that the Labor government could get national football codes to Darwin – premiership games with premiership points in AFL and NRL – and the first cricket test to the Territory. As a born and bred Territorian who loves his cricket, it was fantastic to drive to Marrara cricket ground, the RMCG, and watch Glenn McGrath play.
We got a bit carried away and created the Hogg Club. We had a big banner ‘In Hogg we Trust’ and every time Brad Hogg ran on as 12th man we got right into it. The crowd started cheering more for Brad Hogg than the players. That is part of test cricket. It was fantastic, in Darwin, to watch international test cricket at Marrara. I was talking to Cameron Angus before he went. A bunch of my family and friends went; it was a packed ground with international test cricket and the eyes of the world on us. I am pleased to see the CLP has continued bringing major events to town.
One disappointment is the Arafura Games being cancelled. There was no mention of the Arafura Games in this statement. The last time we had a statement in the House around major events it was not mentioned, and we would love to know what is happening with the Arafura Games. There are other speakers to the statement, perhaps they will touch on it. The Chief Minister said they will come back bigger and better. We would love details on that. We love the Arafura Games, a fantastic community event. We know people who had billets in their house, would volunteer, and really got into the spirit. These people are not necessarily sporting types, but every time the Arafura Games came to town they would billet someone and volunteer at an event because they loved the interaction and involvement with the people who visited the Northern Territory.
It was a fantastic event from a community perspective, and it contributed to the Northern Territory economy. We would love more information from the CLP about where and what is happening with the Arafura Games. If it comes back bigger and better, that is fantastic, but give us some details.
The minister mentioned Australian rugby union, and it is disappointing that the Brumbies are no longer coming to town as they are a fantastic club. We had a good value for money deal with them, and as part of that deal we had a development officer. You cannot underestimate the impact of a development officer. They have a fantastic relationship with juniors and a great capacity to contribute to the health of the sport.
I like the Hottest 7s, a fantastic event happening at a very hot time of year. The minister would appreciate having sporting events outside the Dry Season and the Hottest 7s does that.
The value for money from the Brumbies deal should not be ignored. The fact it came with a development officer was crucial to rugby union. It is a shame we have lost the Brumbies and the development officer. It was a good deal for $300 000. I am biased. Most Territorians played sport growing up, but union was probably my favourite sport. I want to see union successful in the Northern Territory. The development officer had a large role in ensuring juniors came through because the health of any sporting organisation is based on the health of its juniors. Union has done a lot of good work recently and has some good juniors coming through. You cannot underestimate the impact of a development officer and it was a shame to lose the one from the Brumbies deal.
The minister should be proud of securing the tour match for Alice Springs. He talks about the upcoming summer. The Ashes are huge and it is great to have the English team come to town, but it is a shame we have two test matches and some one day internationals but are not seeing international matches in the Territory. We need to continue working with Cricket Australia. It would be fantastic to get test cricket back to Marrara as it is an international standard ground, and it would be fantastic to have cricket there again. We got the ground up to standard and should be looking to secure some international matches.
It is tricky with the Future Tours Programme the ICC has; however, we had games in the past and it would be great if we could get games again. To have Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene come to town was fantastic. It was a shame Muley decided not to come. There were some crowd factors at play, which was a shame, but we had some fantastic superstars in Darwin. It would be great to see international test cricket come back to town.
The minister touched on the Parramatta Eels agreement worth $1m a season for four seasons. We have a home-and-away game as well as a trial game, which is good. However, I am uncertain – perhaps the minister can touch on this when he replies – if a development officer comes with that. If we compare this deal with the Brumbies deal we can see the value in the Brumbies deal. It is great we have NRL games coming to town, but this deal is costing more. Perhaps there is a free-to-air argument, but I am unaware if it comes with a development officer. The Adelaide United deal highlights the value of the Brumbies deal.
It is fantastic Adelaide United is coming to Alice Springs. It is good to see events in Alice. We are a Territory and, because of its size and being the capital, Darwin gets many events. For $250 000 we get a trial match and a logo, compared to the Brumbies game where we got a development officer as well. We get, which is fantastic, a guaranteed spot for one NT player in the Adelaide United National Youth League team which will play in the Under 18 National Youth League, a positive step. It is fantastic that Alice Springs is getting soccer. When I was playing for Verdi in Alice going back too many years, soccer was a very popular sport.
We also have a fantastic facility in Darwin. I would like to see an A-League game here at some point. I am sure that is on the minister’s mind when he is talking to the A-League. We have a game in Alice; at some stage we need a game in Darwin where we have a great facility. Larrakeyah Park is a great facility and there is a huge soccer community in Darwin. It is good to see the soccer community in Alice Springs getting A-League games and the guaranteed Under 18 spot up for grabs.
Aussie rules is probably the most popular sport in the Territory, almost a religion for some people. I barrack for Carlton and get a bit passionate at times …
Mr Chandler: Go the Blues!
Mr GUNNER: Go the Blues, very good.
The government’s main focus on AFL has been tourism and sponsorship through the Melbourne Demons. In his statement, the minister spoke about the exposure the NT received last year from the NT’s brolga being on the backdrop of the Melbourne coaching box and the media backdrop. As a Carlton fan, I do not want to pick on Melbourne because we have had some pretty horrendous years recently. There probably was not a more depressing place this season than the backdrop of the Melbourne coaching box or Melbourne media background. Hopefully, under Roos, next year Melbourne plays better. It was a pretty depressing year for Melbourne. You cannot always know that when you invest in the club. Unfortunately, the brolga was behind a club that did not go too well this year.
The only worse place you could have been this year was Essendon Football Club, with all the controversy it had. You have to take into account the quality of what you are buying. Unfortunately, this year Melbourne had a rough time. With the AFL going in and Paul Roos taking over, I am sure they are hoping for better seasons to come.
People want to know where the AFL agreement is heading because it runs out in 2014. Obviously, we like having AFL games in Darwin. We have heard all about the brolga, the logo, the placement and what money you might get out of that. The minister may have an opinion on whether it is good to be associated with a club that is not going too well at the moment.
We would love to know what football we will have in Alice Springs and Darwin past 2014. We have had Indigenous All Stars games in the past, pre-season games and games for premiership points. Where will we be after 2014? We may not be able to talk about it yet because of the contract, but we would like to know what happens after 2014.
The minister touched on the Sport Vouchers worth $75. We have had the argument in the past, and welcome anything which helps relieve the cost of living pressures at the moment. Unfortunately, $75 does not go far towards helping people pay increased power and water bills. We welcome the small attempt from the CLP to help with the cost of living, one thing they have done towards their cost of living promise. Unfortunately, the amount people have to pay is more than the $75 Sport Voucher. However, it is a small concession for people who have had an enormous increase to their cost of living.
I understand that 45 000 people are eligible for the voucher and 16 000 people have taken it up. Sixteen thousand by $75 is $1.2m. I believe $4m was budgeted, which means $2.8m remains. It is not my area so perhaps I have the figures wrong. Where is the rest of the money? What is happening with it? How much did this cost to implement? I doubt it cost $2.8m to implement. Where has that money gone? There are some theories in the community at the moment and I am unsure if the minister wants to comment on this – it might be the Minister for Education. There is a rumour that School Sport NT will be scrapped and this money will be used for an alternative program. I would love some clarity around what is happening with the money left over from the Sport Voucher. What will the CLP do with it?
The minister is also minister for Racing. I was a little surprised that in a 36-page statement it only got one page towards the end. As the member for Fannie Bay, I have a strong involvement with the local Darwin Turf Club because it is in the electorate and I love going there. Obviously, racing is much bigger than the Darwin Turf Club. There are five other racing clubs: Adelaide River, Pine Creek, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. The majority of racing happens in Alice and Darwin.
Racing is a massive industry in the Northern Territory. I am sure the minister knows this because it was touched on at the launch of the Darwin Turf Club season. In his statement he said:
I will add a little more detail on the impact and size of racing in the Territory for people listening. Thoroughbred Racing NT has a very good report on the size and scope of the industry which I am sure the minister is aware of. The total economic value generated by racing is estimated at $192.3m, the direct full-time equivalent employment is 1216, the flow-on full-time equivalent employment is 826, total full-time equivalent employment is 2041, and total household income generated is $107.6m. Racing adds $147m to the Darwin economy, employing 15 051 people and earning $82m. There is $40m to the Alice Springs economy employing 466 people and earning $24m, and $2m across the rest of the Northern Territory. One in every 91 Northern Territory adult residents participates or is employed in the NT racing industry. More than one in five NT residents attended a race meeting in 2010-11, making it the third highest sport attended in the Territory behind, marginally, motor racing and Australian Rules football. On average, there are 307 horses in training in the Northern Territory at any one time and approximately 15% of horses in training are visiting horses from interstate.
That is a really good point. Racing brings people in from other parts of Australia. That is one of the values of the Arafura Games and the Masters Games. Events that bring people in from interstate have a big impact on the local economy and, at any one time, approximately 15% of all horses training in the Territory come from interstate. The Territory government receives more than $9m from wagering taxes alone. Racing is an industry as much as a sport with a huge impact in the Northern Territory. It is a valuable sport.
We all know the success of the Alice Springs and Darwin Cup Carnivals. I had friends in Darwin who were married on the Darwin Cup weekend. That was a huge mistake because it was a nightmare to find accommodation. About 30% of people coming to the Darwin Cup come from outside Darwin. It is a massive weekend, very crowded, and one of the best weekends on the Territory calendar.
At the Alice Springs Carnival, 60% of people attending come from outside Alice. That is huge, and twice as much as Darwin. I knew the Alice Springs Cup was big, I knew the Darwin Cup was big, but I did not realise 60% of the people who went to the Alice Springs Cup were from outside Alice Springs. The cup carnivals are huge events bringing people and communities together.
There is more to racing than horses going around. That is a big part of it and people love it, but anyone who has been to a race day knows the camaraderie away from the race track is huge. It could be a marquee, it could be a tent, it could be a corporate gathering, or it could be you and six mates. It has amazing capacity to bring people together for an afternoon or a twilight race, and it has a positive impact. You have to be careful with gambling and wagering. There are areas you need to be careful with in the racing portfolio, and I would like some advice from the minister.
When the CLP first came to government they split Racing from Gaming and Licensing, an unusual step. Other jurisdictions do not do that because a big part of racing is managing the regulatory side. The racing industry considers the minister to be in charge of regulation. I would love to know how that works in practice. My understanding is the Racing Commission has gone from the department of Sport to the Department of Business. Perhaps the minister can touch on how this is working in his reply. I do not believe there was consultation with the industry around this decision to split Racing, Gaming and Licensing. Perhaps moving the Racing Commission to the Department of Business has been on the basis of feedback. I would love to know how that is working. I asked for a briefing when things were being sorted and never received one. I would appreciate something as simple as a statement in reply on how that works.
Racing is more than money. The minister touched on the tragic death of Simone Montgomerie on Darwin Cup Day. Simone, a young jockey, had a fatal fall in the sixth at the Darwin Cup. The day was, responsibly, called off from that point. Not everyone saw the fall because of the nature of the Darwin Cup. Unfortunately, I saw her fall. At the time I did not realise it was serious. From where I was standing, it looked like she fell to the side. When we heard the news later, it was a bit of a kick, an incredibly tragic moment. For people involved with racing, a very small community, it had a huge impact. It was a sensible decision to call off the race day, and I appreciate the phone call from the minister about how it was being handled.
It is a tough sport. Simone was the 502nd jockey to lose her life since Australian racing began. It is an extraordinary statistic from the National Jockeys Trust website. I looked at that figure several times because it is an extraordinary number and puts into perspective how dangerous racing is. There have been many improvements over the years, but there still is much danger in riding a horse around a track.
I commend Brett Dixon, Charles Burkitt, Justin Coleman and everyone involved in TRNT and DTC boards and executive for the way they responded to the tragedy. Brett’s leadership was outstanding, and he brought the community together. They responded in several different ways, including a whole-day tribute day. They also had, the first day back, a special moment for Simone, in addition to the fund that was established so people could donate directly to the Montgomerie family. Darwin Turf Club and Thoroughbred Racing NT gave that a kick-start by donating $200 000, the prize money from the Darwin Cup. The government also contributed $50 000, which was good. The racing industry will continue to support the family well into the future as Simone’s daughter grows up.
I would like some more information from the minister in his reply. He mentioned the government has plans to further develop our racing industry. What are those plans? I understand the government has cut funding to the insurance bill it pays. I would like some information around that. Has funding been cut to help cover the insurance bill?
We will miss Philip Neck, who is departing Darwin Turf Club. They have a very good team at Darwin Turf Club, and I am looking forward to meeting the new CEO. I need a good relationship with the CEO because the club is in my electorate. It has neighbours and, as you can imagine, from time to time local issues arise between the turf club and surrounding neighbours, and you have to work with them both to manage the issues. That is a small local member point. Phil Neck has done a fantastic job and has worked closely with Brett in taking the turf club forward. It is always quite surprising to see Darwin Turf Club growing and improving because it has done so well to date. We thank Philip for his work and appreciate what he has done. I look forward to meeting and working with the new CEO.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, I thank the minister for bringing this statement to the House. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about a range of sport, recreation and racing issues. Our member for Johnston, as shadow minister for Sport, will have an opportunity at a later date to speak and contribute. I thank the minister for his contribution.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support this statement from my colleague, the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing. I deal with this in a number of ways, firstly from my Youth portfolio, secondly from my Infrastructure portfolio, as I get to build some of the additions the Sport minister has brought online across the Territory.
The other aspect of this is that in the Top End, particularly Darwin, many sporting institutions, grounds and facilities are in my electorate. It is with great pleasure that I speak to some of these.
A National Rugby League match was held in Darwin recently between the Penrith Panthers and the Gold Coast Titans at TIO Stadium in my electorate. Sadly, I was at another function that night but I heard the roar from the crowd from the multicultural event I attended about 2 km away. I imagine they were having a fantastic time.
This government is bringing these magnificent matches to Darwin. It is about inspiring young people. Much of what I will talk about is to inspire young people and ensure young people in the Northern Territory have the opportunity to see their heroes, heroines and people who can inspire them to pursue a sporting career, or at least get involved in sport and have good fun.
When I was growing up I was encouraged to participate in sport. Like many families, you struggle to buy a pair of footy boots and other things, and there are some sports you cannot compete in. A number of sports I wanted to compete in required a large investment and my family could not do that, but we found other sports.
Fortunately, responsible governments across the country bring in these measures to keep young people occupied, and not only young people. Under my Seniors portfolio there are many sports we encourage older people to get involved in.
I was at the first birthday of the Darwin Squash Association on Saturday and was amazed because many people were playing. I looked around the grounds and noticed a lot of cars. What you do not realise is that some of the people driving those cars are seniors. It is fascinating to see so many older people playing squash. What did not surprise me were the knee supports they were wearing. Being an old squash player myself, I am aware of the toll it takes on your knees.
They had people as young as four or five and people in their 60s playing squash. What a magnificent thing when you have facilities where young people can start and can be active all through their life.
When I was a kid I was told ‘into sport out of court’, and that still rings true. It is our responsibility as a government to provide sporting opportunities for young people.
We have secured a $4m deal over four years with the Parramatta Eels. This will see National Rugby League premiership matches in the Northern Territory until 2014. What a fantastic initiative. The interest this generates amongst young people who can see fantastic athletes in action must be inspiring. It inspired me when I was young. When I was growing up in Perth, Kevin Sheedy was at Perth Oval inspiring us young tackers to get into footy and do things, and we did. When I was a young boy he was an inspiration, and he went on to inspire professional AFL players.
It is with great pride I support the minister for Sport in his attempts to bring top-class events to Darwin.
The government has increased funding to many peak sports bodies and active recreation bodies, including Hockey NT, netball, Football Federation Northern Territory, Boxing Northern Territory and gymnastics, by 50%. This is an additional ongoing $1.75m, bringing total funding of about $5.6m to 59 peak sporting bodies and active recreation organisations. Some of those organisations involve many seniors from our community.
The Sport minister is working hard to provide alternative accommodation for the badminton clubs. Again, many older people engage in that activity.
I am pleased to see, in my schools in the northern suburbs, the success of the sport vouchers. This sees about $4m each year invested in making participation in sport more accessible. Every child wanting to participate in a sport has an opportunity to do so with the $75 voucher. As I said, when I was growing up there were things I could not do. I am glad we are able to help young people get into sports they otherwise might not have been able to. The vouchers are for all government and non-government school children to sign up or try sport without normal significant financial outlay for fees and uniforms to parents.
The positive feedback I have received from my schools – I sit on quite a number of school councils – is that it is gratefully accepted. The feedback from local sports clubs that have been availing themselves of the vouchers is that junior registrations have increase this year. There is also an increase in parents and families paying their club fees up-front with the assistance of the sport vouchers.
The most popular sport so far this year using the vouchers has been soccer. The FFNT advised it had an 8.5% growth because of the school vouchers. We have seen similar increases in netball, basketball, rugby league and tennis. What a great result! This is about getting young people off the streets or sitting around in parks, possibly exposing themselves to danger and trouble, and getting them into sport. A figure of 8.5% is a significant increase.
Of course, the Northern Territory government delivered on an election commitment of $300 000, as part of the joint $1.8m project with the federal government, to upgrade the Jingili BMX circuit. My colleague, the minister for Sport, went into that in great detail. The covered circuit is the first of its kind in Australia. It is great to see these things happening, especially in the northern suburbs, where we have lots of young people always looking for something to do. To watch some of these young people – the effort and skill they put into their sport is magnificent.
I had the great fortune to attend the surf rescue championships held in Darwin. It was a fabulous event to watch. There were so many young people not only having a great time, but providing a fantastic service to our community.
Our local surf lifesaving club does a fantastic job of not only providing lifesaving services on Mindil Beach and Casuarina, at their headquarters, but at Nhulunbuy they compete in interstate championships. People might think it interesting to have surf lifesaving in crocodile-infested waters; however, they do a fabulous job of patrolling our beaches, setting up flags, opening and closing beaches and training young people who they refer to as their ‘nippers’. It is a fabulous organisation, along with many others in the sport and recreation field. They do a fantastic job of training our young people.
Going back to the BMX track, this facility has the backing of the International Cycling Union and will provide opportunities to develop relationships with the fast-growing BMX race scene, not only in Australia, but across Asia, China and Japan. It is becoming a huge event in Southeast Asia and Australia, and we will have one of the few covered tracks where you can train and participate year round. The Northern Territory has produced national champions in BMX, and this new all-weather circuit will greatly assist in producing many more champions in the future. Jake Tunney from Darwin was a world champion BMX rider. He was born and bred in Darwin, travelled the world, put up some serious business in the BMX sport and brought home many trophies. Congratulations to him.
Just up the road from that facility is the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre. The Northern Territory government provided $2.5m with a total construction price of $15m. Works are in progress. The centre proposes to build on the success of the NT Thunder football team. We have a group of people, especially Michael Long, dedicated to developing our youth. You do not necessarily need a career in football and it does not matter where you start, once you get involved – we find young people move from one sport to another – to be involved in something when you are young which leads you to pursue it as a lifelong hobby or career, or just learn about self-respect and the capacity building sport engenders in young people. Without government investing wisely in this area we are challenged to get our people to look at team building, self-esteem and self-respect. My colleague, the minister for Sport, is working extremely hard to provide these services to the maximum number of young people in the Territory.
The NT Thunder football team stands on its own record; I do not need to say too much about it. Most Territorians know what a fantastic team it is.
The Michael Long centre’s annual residential training program will target young Aboriginal Territorians aged between 12 and 17 from selected remote communities in the Top End and Central Australia. The centre will be built on the northern edge of TIO Stadium at Marrara, which is currently leased by the Northern Territory government to the AFLNT for a period of 15 years from 2007, with two five-year extension options. This facility, in my electorate, will include residential accommodation for participants from remote communities, and staff and visiting teams and students. It has a gymnasium, a lap and rehabilitation pool, education space, music and art space, admin areas, function rooms, lecture theatres, dining rooms, kitchens, secondary accommodation to be made up of a small demountable, multipurpose rooms, and all associated equipment and fittings that go with a training facility of this nature. Tenders for the construction of this academy closed on 23 September 2013, with works expected to commence late November this year.
Extra funding of $1.2m has been provided by this government to the Palmerston Water Park and Leanyer Recreation Park, taking the total funding to about $4.2m to meet operational costs, something the previous government did not provide.
Thirty-two sporting organisations across the Territory will benefit from the 2013 facility and equipment capital investment. These are fantastic initiatives. The program is open to all Territory clubs, groups and peak sporting bodies, recreational organisations and service deliverers, as well as shire councils. Each organisation could apply for maximum grant of about $50 000 a year.
The South Darwin Rugby League Football Club will receive $16 000 to upgrade shade structures and irrigation works under this program. The Police and Citizens Youth Club will receive $50 000 to upgrade the office block at the Wongabilla Equestrian Centre which takes young people who cannot afford a horse and gives them the opportunity to develop a relationship with the animal world and learn self-discipline, self-respect and capacity building. The police do a fantastic job at Wongabilla. I hope they see the value in it and support it, along with what they do with their horses and Riding for the Disabled.
Many young offenders go there, some of whom have never built relationships with people let alone animals, and find it rewarding. The success rate of young people learning how to interact not only with people but with the animal world is quite high.
We also saw the successful 32nd AFL Masters National Carnival here last week, which attracted about 1500 people. The government ensured the event was held here with $30 000 in funding as well as in-kind support. That function injected about $4m into our community. I was fortunate to attend the presentation evening at the Convention Centre. There were many big kids there and it was an amazing night. My mother always said never let the child in you die because that is when you get old. There were not many old people there! There were many big kids and blokes who play footy; it was a blokey night. They had a great time and, as I moved around the tables speaking to people and getting feedback, the Territory did extremely well. We won one of the age events – the first time we had won anything. The Territory senior football players did us proud and a good night was had by all. It will be in Adelaide next year, and the Territory teams said they would be there for the event.
When we look at investment in sport, these things create a positive environment. There were 850 people at that dinner and all had a great time. The feedback I received was not only about the physical injuries they suffered – there was a lot of Dencorub – but they had been to Crocodylus Park, Adelaide River, and other places. They had availed themselves of many tourist facilities and attractions. It was great to see that not only did they come to play football and have a good time, but they were out with their partners, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, kids – the whole lot. To have 1500 people at one event, moving around the Top End, is great to see.
Some people ask why we spend money on this. The money is the spin-off from the investment which goes through the community. Some of those people were here for two weeks, and $4m over that time is a good spend and a wise investment by any government to create these events.
I was fortunate to attend the greyhound championships several months ago. It was pretty pumped out there; it was a good night. The dogs were racing, the crowd was there, and there was an air of excitement. If you have never been to the greyhounds and like a bit of racing, I suggest you get out to Winnellie Park. Not only will you see some fantastic racing, you will also see some of the improvements made there. You can sit back, relax, have a glass of wine with a beautiful dinner and watch the races from the air-conditioned lounge. It is a great night. We believe $800 000 to ensure the ongoing viability of greyhound racing in the Northern Territory is well spent. The improvements made there are fantastic.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time for the member for Sanderson to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that. The additional $230 000 in 2013 allowed the Darwin Greyhound Association to maintain its prize money and entice more interstate visitors, leading to more runners. I witnessed Darren McDonald, a top Victorian trainer and a member of Greyhound Australia’s Hall of Fame, take out the Darwin Greyhound Cup for his dog, ‘Take it All’. I was there for that race and saw it take it all. It was fantastic fun for the family, and there is also a kids’ play area.
The government is trying to promote family-friendly facilities around the Territory: football matches, the greyhounds, even Darwin Turf Club is a great day for the whole family. You can dine reasonably cheaply, and you can have a great day. There is a bit of excitement. There are nice places to make friends and have a good time. When we talk about sport and active recreation, it is about ensuring Territorians participate in sports and keep active. Active people are normally happy, healthy people.
It is with great pleasure I support my colleague, the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing, in his excellent presentation of what we are doing in the sport and recreation activity areas. I commend his statement. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I also support of my colleague’s statement on Sport and Recreation. You can see we have come a long way in the last 12 months and have supported a vast range of sporting clubs, associations and endeavours. It is no surprise Palmerston people love sport, and it was excellent to see both the Palmerston Raiders and the Palmerston Football Club had teams win grand finals recently, which is always exciting in our community.
We are going into the AFL season and the Palmerston Magpies are revving up for a big season ahead. They have a new coach and a new president and are moving forward with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. Best of luck to them.
I am pleased our government has taken a responsible approach to investing in sport, and I pick up on the comments of the member for Fannie Bay who said sporting organisations are, to some extent, one-eyed – their club needs the money and their cause is more deserving than others.
It is a difficult area because people who love sport really love sport and really love their club. We have taken a measured approach and have done some good deals which have value for Territorians. I will talk about some of those as I continue.
We have secured Parramatta, a value for money deal, and that is what we have to do. We have a duty to Territorians. We are not in the best fiscal position, everyone knows that. I will not harp on about it, but we have continued a high level of service delivery to Territorians, continued to provide quality clubs and games to be played in the Northern Territory. We fought hard for the best possible deal.
I watched the Palmerston Raiders when the Gold Coast Titans were in town several months ago. A local boy, Sam Irwin, who used to be best friends with my younger cousin, now plays for the Gold Coast Titans. This year he came as one of the rising stars of the club, and it was special to see the Titans significantly engaging with Palmerston Raiders. That is what value for money is about. It is not just about the best dollar value, but what you get for it. The Gold Coast Titans did an excellent job with all the camps they ran. You could see this thrill on the little Raiders’ faces as they got to play, interact and learn from the Gold Coast Titans. It was particularly exciting – I was swept up in the enthusiasm – when the Titans sat along a very long table and the kids got to line up and take all their balls, flags and bits and bobs along and have everyone sign them. There were fantastic photo opportunities.
It received quite good media coverage, so it was a great thing for Palmerston Raiders, and they appreciated the visit. Things like that are invaluable on so many levels. My colleague, the minister for Sport, is looking at people who want to visit and give back to our community, which is very important.
The minister has also done a fantastic deal with the Adelaide United National Youth League team. As patron of the Palmerston Football Club, soccer is becoming a bigger part of my life – I never thought it would. Politics does wonderful things to you and brings you into areas you might never have known.
My colleague, the member for Fong Lim, said earlier he is probably the only parliamentarian in this Chamber who played sport. We said, ‘No, the member for Wanguri plays sport’. The rest of us are a little lacklustre.
The Palmerston Football Club is excited about opportunities like this. For young people to see that career progression, the opportunities and that something is achievable if you work hard is invaluable. We cannot ask for more than to provide clear pathways for young Territorians. It was such a critical deal to sign. If you talk about value for money, $150 000 for two seasons really will deliver bang for buck. The young ones at Palmerston Football Club will, going into next season, have a new focus and will feel they can reach out and touch something achievable.
You do not get that role modelling, the career path or the mentoring opportunities unless you have real contact with high-level sport. It is brilliant we have managed to secure that. Football Federation Australia reported 3124 registered players in the Northern Territory. From the intelligence we have, when deals like this are signed, registrations are boosted. With the combination of the Adelaide United agreement and our $75 Sport Voucher, I expect to see another boost in junior player registration going into next season, which we are ready for and looking forward to.
We also spoke about the substantial benefits of sport to the Northern Territory economy through tourism. I attended the BMX NT titles last week and weekend and was selling raffle tickets with one of the committee members. So many people were saying to us, ‘I cannot buy a raffle ticket because if I win the bike how will I get it down south?’ Andrea and I assured everyone we could work out a transport deal if they won just so we could sell more tickets. It shows you how passionate people are about their sport and how far they will go to participate in it, be a spectator and follow their team, club, son, daughter, or friend and family.
We have talked at length about the Sport Voucher Scheme. In my experience, in Palmerston it has been a tremendous success. I remember, probably part way through the year, doing some media with Palmerston Power Basketball Club. They were so enthusiastic about the sport voucher that they approached me saying they had a 30% increase in junior registrations they could directly attribute to the voucher. That is enormous. Using the sport voucher, parents could pay for the whole year up-front, which covers two basketball seasons. If you talk about value for money, parents are able to enrol their child in basketball for two full seasons.
It was great not only for Palmerston Power with an increase in registrations, but it was excellent for their balance sheet because normally they struggle getting people to pay. People pay in instalments, or they are chasing up between season gaps with all the administrative nightmares clubs and organisations go through. The sport voucher meant not only did they have an increase in numbers, but they were getting full payment up-front. They could not have spoken more highly of it, and to me that was the proof in the pudding.
Palmerston Football Club experienced the same thing. If parents enrolled their child in football this year they were only $5 out-of-pocket. This, again, is a huge incentive to give young people a go. Little ones, when trying out sport or dance, might not necessarily like it and it is hard for parents to make enormous financial commitments to registration fees, uniforms, shoes and the rest of it.
Using those two Palmerston clubs as an example, the sport vouchers put a huge dent in any burden on parents and, in some cases, made it very little burden at all.
The voucher scheme is still going. This year all government and non-government schoolchildren were eligible, and that will be the case next year, which is fantastic. For those 30 000-odd parents who have not used their school sport voucher, Wet Season sports are now coming online. Please do not hesitate to sign your child up before 30 November so you can reap the benefit of that government initiative.
Last Friday night I attended the Territory Thunder presentation evening. It was amazing to be in that room. It was preaching to the converted because the room was full of players, wives, spouses, coaches and people affiliated with Territory Thunder, but it was special to see the pride and ethos of that club. Every speaker, every individual who received a reward – and there were numerous awards and presentations – had a degree of cohesion amongst them. The things they were saying all flowed one from the other so you could see they had a very clear ethos in their club, clear standards, clear boundaries and clear goals, just like the Country Liberals.
What really struck me – we are talking about the amount of money we put into sports, facilities, upkeep, all those things, and it is an enormous government, sponsor, and volunteer contribution – it is not all one-sided. The retiring coach of Territory Thunder, Daniel Archer, said in his speech that in the Northern Territory people love AFL, they go crazy for AFL. No matter where you go, the farthest flung remote community, Darwin or Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, people love AFL. However, what many Territorians have not yet come around to is that love and passion for Territory Thunder. He told everyone in the room it was their mission to be Territory Thunder’s greatest advocate because it is a cultural change and, over time, Territorians will love them as much as they love AFL and will see Territory Thunder as they see AFL.
That was incredibly powerful and so true. I was speaking with Jarred Ilett, CEO of Territory Thunder, who was saying that between 20 and 25 Thunder players have gone on to play AFL. Not all have succeeded, not all have wanted to continue down that path, but that is not too bad. It was amazing, and if we can continue to grow and harness this young talent and send them off to the Australian stage or the world stage we have done a good thing. If we are not backing local we should be. It is everyone’s responsibility to be part of a community and help foster that community. Territory Thunder is an important part of the fabric of the Northern Territory and will continue to grow. However, we must be cognisant of the fact they need our support, and everyone’s support is highly valued.
The Northern Territory government, in conjunction with the new federal government, was able to deliver a $1.8m project to upgrade the Jingili BMX circuit. When I was speaking to Andrea at Satellite City BMX Club over the weekend she said how amazing the roof would be. It is difficult for them in Palmerston because they only get to use the facility for half the year. The Palmerston facility is brilliant. I can see how they would want a roof. Minister, if there is a spare $1.8m lying around anytime soon, Satellite City BMX Club in Palmerston will put their hands up for it.
I thank Natasha Griggs, member for Solomon, because she lobbied her colleagues very hard to bring in $1.5m out of the $1.8 for Jingili BMX. They must be eternally grateful to her, particularly as it is the only covered BMX track of its kind in the country.
Satellite City BMX Club, whilst they would love $1.8m, did not go away empty-handed. We have committed $300 000 to the club for minor new works. The racetrack has been upgraded and looks fantastic, and they are happy with the outcome. The remaining funding will go towards the new clubhouse, canteen, and toilet block amenities. Those works should be completed by October 2014, so there are plenty of good things on the horizon for Satellite City BMX. They just held the largest Northern Territory titles in history with over 300 riders. It is a credit to the committee to pull off such a spectacular event, and for the pride they show in their club. They really deserve this funding. I look forward to seeing the facilities once they are completed.
Our government has made an enormous commitment to motor sports and upgrades to Hidden Valley are well-known in our community. You do not have to be a racing fanatic to appreciate investment and infrastructure like that. There is no question the V8s bring many people to the Northern Territory. It is a well-staged and spectacular event.
Scratching a little deeper and at the local level, it was brilliant to see Gray Primary School, Sacred Heart Primary School, Good Shepherd Lutheran College, and Driver Primary School attend the Friday lunch which the Chief Minister hosted for primary school children. There was not much happening that day in racing, but the excitement for those kids to be there and be part of something as huge as the V8s was amazing. It caused me to reflect on when the V8s first came to Darwin. I remember my dad took Thursday off work and took me and my sister to the track to see what the phenomena of V8s was all about. I will always remember that. I am not sure if we went back any time after that, but it was an amazing thing. It is part of the Northern Territory calendar and I am pleased our government has continued to support such a major event.
Regarding Palmerston Water Park, it is amazing in this day and age that the then Labor government could build an outdoor water facility without a scrap of shade cloth. It never ceases to amaze me what Labor did when in government. Anyway, we have sorted it out and put aside $200 000 to get that happening so mums and dads can enjoy sitting in the shade and the kids can enjoy playing in the shade. We have to be sun smart and responsible about these things. Comfort is always high on Territorians’ priority list. We know how hot it is during the build-up and the Wet. Even during Dry Season you cannot spend too much time in the sun. Those shade structures and the ongoing commitment to operational costing is very much appreciated by Palmerston residents.
The Palmerston Cricket Club was awarded $50 000. As the minister said, it had resorted to stringing up old fishing nets, but now they can buy new nets which they are in desperate need of. They very much appreciate that money going towards enhancing their facility.
In short, there is a lot happening in Palmerston, and a lot happening in the Northern Territory. I am proud of the work the minister and our government have done. We are focused in this area, and have delivered great value for money and this will continue to enhance and be improved upon over our term of government. The proof will certainly be in the pudding.
I commend this statement to the House.
Mrs PRICE (Community Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing for his statement regarding his portfolio. I congratulate him on his work so far, and it is great to hear all the Giles’ government achievements in this area, despite the constant negativity of those opposite. We are kicking a whole lot of goals.
I would like to speak about my electorate of Stuart and how important sport and recreation is for my constituents and my people.
AFL is the sport communities know how to play, what they look forward to, and what people in the bush think is important. It is important, and I would like to see more of it happening in the smaller communities. My daughter, who spent some of her time in Darwin, introduced female football during the Alice Springs footy season. It has been going great so far, and we have had a huge amount of interest. Many female football teams have developed and grown out of that. It encourages and strengthens relationships with national sporting bodies which provide pathways for our talented children and young adults to get to the top of their sport. I am very strong about focusing on children and young adults in regional remote Northern Territory. It allows them opportunities they would not normally see: things like money, education, material possessions, recognition and appreciation for their abilities. It also gives them a deeper appreciation of their culture and the challenges facing Northern Territory communities and homelands.
We need to work more with people who have made it big in their sports, and take them back to their communities to give our kids a sense of hope and future. We need to show them they can make it big if they stay out of trouble, work hard, train hard, do well at school and look after their families. This is an opportunity to break the vicious cycle that grips Aboriginal people and our communities, the cycle of welfare, pornography, family and personal violence, a sense of hopelessness, no direction, and nothing for their children or their future.
I have contacted Eddie McGuire to encourage him to visit Yuendumu, because Yuendumu is the place of the magpies and they support Collingwood Magpies. I made contact with him to see what he could do for the small community and discuss the plans I have to create footy academies for kids in remote communities. Our remote communities are often bypassed. Our kids in remote communities suffer because they are not given the opportunity to perform or be seen as talented sportspeople. I want more talented young people to expose their abilities and skills outside their communities so they can get recognition instead of living off welfare. I want to see these young people grow up to be strong future leaders of our people. If sport is the way to get them out of this situation, this government is doing it. The statement from the minister goes a long way to make that change, create that challenge for our people in remote communities and make things better for them.
These academies are important in ensuring kids can cope by giving them life skills. This is important because of people like Liam Jurrah, a young brother to me from my community of Yuendumu who played for Melbourne Demons. He had great opportunity, it was there for him, but what he had to go through made it very difficult for him. However, if there is an opportunity for a child in these remote communities to get up there with everybody else, why not make it happen? Why not give them that opportunity? Why not let them believe they are as equal as everybody else? They are as equal as Usain Bolt, they can make a difference. If this government can create that environment for them, we can have Usain Bolts from Yuendumu, Nyirripi, Baniyala, the Tiwis, anywhere. We have that in the Northern Territory. Why can we not create that for them? Our minister is opening up that opportunity for our kids in remote communities.
Liam is the sad story of a very talented footballer who, in my view, did not cope with the clash of coming from a remote community and playing football at a top level. We need to support these talented kids and give them better opportunities to succeed. I would like to work with the minister to see these academies rolled out across the areas to identify and grow our talented sports kids and give them the tools to succeed.
Think of how many successful Territorian kids are out there already in the top level of their sport, and imagine if we could double or even triple that. The possibilities are there, the Territory is a great breeding ground for top sportspeople. It is great to see the minister and the Giles government keen to see that continue.
The sport vouchers are a great tool and a demonstration of a commitment to Territory kids and families. While there are some teething problems, the response was overwhelmingly positive, and I hope they continue next year, minister.
I would also like to talk about the Parramatta Eels and the Strong Men, Strong Leadership program to identify and develop Territory men and provide them with strong role models using Parramatta players. As minister for men’s policy, I look forward to working with you, minister Conlan, to implement and grow this program.
There is an opportunity to use AFL clubs like Collingwood and the Melbourne Demons to build similar programs across the Territory. These programs are critical if we are to change cultures and get our Territory men to take a stand against domestic and family violence across the Territory. These role models will give Territory boys and men someone to identify with, to watch, and to learn from and listen to. Some people ask why sportsmen as role models. They are disciplined and have gone through many years of hard work and training. They have survived injuries and disappointments, even sports politics and a range of other issues, and made it to the top. As well, many of those sportsmen have great personal characteristics which support their sporting careers for our young men to observe and copy.
These programs can and should be linked to men’s finance, violence, health, and education programs to give our men the complete all-round package to help them succeed and become role models for future Territorian males.
I look forward to further discussions and talks with my colleagues about how we can work together to not only make sports in the Northern Territory successful, but also develop, grow and give our Northern Territory kids and men the ability to succeed at sports and life.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister on his statement.
Debate adjourned.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Health): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, tonight in adjournment I want to wish Vic Ludwig a very happy 85th birthday. I tried to call you earlier today but have the wrong number because it did not go through. I have been thinking about you all day. Best wishes.
It has been amazing knowing you over the last few months following the sad passing of Sadie. Since then you have been a breath of fresh air coming into the electorate office. I know Angie enjoys having you around, you are a good person, incredibly well-mannered, and we love it when you pop in. I was thinking about what I could get for your birthday and I thought I would stick to my commitment of having Angie transcribe those 30 hours of your life history slowly over the next 12 months. Perhaps we will have it finished by your next birthday, although I am not 100% sure. Your humour is always so refreshing, you are so innovative for someone as experienced and senior as you are, and it is an absolute pleasure to have you around. The Calder branch is a better place for having you in it. I will ensure I have that steak ready at my next community barbecue because I know you will be there sniffing around looking for it. I will ensure I have it this time, and I apologise for only having sausages at the Territory Day barbecue. I know you were very disappointed about that.
On another note, the Palmerston Markets are majorly ramping up for their 25 October Halloween dress up party. It will be an enormous spectacular. The committee has put a huge amount of effort into it and there will be prizes and dress up. All the stallholders are encouraged to dress their stalls in Halloween theme and get involved. Renee from the markets, and her entire committee, work tirelessly to run the markets every single Friday night and the grand finale is really going to go off. She is shooting around Palmerston tomorrow so be watching your TV screens, you will not be able to escape it. If anyone is at a loose end on 25 October I encourage you to come to the Palmerston Markets; it will be a spectacular grand finale and I hope everyone throws themselves in to dressing up and getting in theme for the evening.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, this evening I update the House on the first quarter’s activities in the alcohol mandatory treatment system. At the outset, it has been a very busy, very challenging and, ultimately, very rewarding first three months.
As I update the House on this program, the success of this program, even in its early stages, is an example of the difference in approach between the Country Liberals government and the former Labor government.
This government’s alcohol mandatory treatment initiatives are helping people to help themselves and providing them an opportunity to change their lives. The previous government tried to solve the problem by punishing every Territorian and treating everyone in the community the same. The success of the alcohol mandatory treatment initiative would indicate treating people as individuals works, punishing communities does not.
The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act commenced operation on 1 July 2013. Assessment and treatment services are in operation in Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Alice Springs. The first patient was admitted to an assessment service on 12 July 2013. The trigger for referral to the alcohol mandatory treatment system is three protective custodies for alcohol intoxication within a two-month period.
There have been 101 people referred to the alcohol mandatory treatment system during the first quarter of its operation. That is, 101 people taken from the revolving door of police protective custody and referred to a health system focused on supporting their health and alcohol addiction needs. This is a remarkable achievement, and I applaud all those contributing to the system’s success – the police, the watch house nurses and staff, the assessment service clinicians and staff, the tribunal members and registry, and the treatment service providers, especially the staff of the medi-hotel in Darwin, Vendale in Katherine, and CAAAPU in Alice Springs.
The Northern Territory government is committed to providing information on this important program in an honest and transparent way. We are also committed to ensuring client confidentiality, and that professionalism and integrity of the many hard-working staff within the system is maintained. That is why the government has implemented a balanced process whereby reports on the alcohol mandatory treatment system are made available online every quarter.
This afternoon, the first quarterly report went up on the Department of Health’s website. That report provides a breakdown of the 101 people referred to the mandatory treatment system and their progress through the system as at 30 September 2013. On that date the Darwin numbers were as follows: six people were in assessment; 28 people were in treatment; four people were back in the community being supported by after-care plans; and 12 people had been given a release order by the tribunal or released without an order. In Katherine, three people were in assessment; nine people were in treatment; two people had been given a release order by the tribunal or released without an order; and one person was assessed with no order made. In Alice Springs, six people were in assessment; 24 people were in treatment; and six people had been given a release order by the tribunal or released without an order.
This is a great start to our alcohol mandatory treatment system. The government has been very open and honest with the community and stakeholders about our expectations for this policy. We have also been open about the challenges in implementing this new health program – challenges, I believe, diligent departmental tribunal and non-government organisation staff have worked hard to address and should be applauded for.
For years, Labor talked about implementing mandatory rehabilitation. It took a change of government for something to be done and the alcohol mandatory treatment policy to be put in place. It is now starting to gain momentum. Most clients are now taking an active interest in their own healthcare, requesting follow-up with doctors for chronic disease management and women’s health checks. Several clients have requested and received assistance with getting work when they are out of the program and on their after-care program. Several clients have talked about moving to voluntary residential treatment post-release from the alcohol mandatory treatment program as part of their after-care. This recognition and desire to improve themselves by continuing to access services is strongly supported by the Northern Territory government.
The alcohol mandatory treatment service has been able to coordinate multidisciplinary care for its patients including dental services, podiatry, and specialist outpatient clinics which have been welcomed and contribute to improved health outcomes.
The client group is one of the most demanding in the health system, but the service is positively engaging with the majority of referred patients, and offers them the chance to break the cycle of alcohol dependence. It is already clear our alcohol management treatment system has significant power to change and improve people’s lives. Clients in our system have often spent a long time on the fringes of society and have only sporadically come into contact with health and other support services. Now in our system they are, for the first time or the first time in a very long time, receiving the healthcare and other care they require. Ours is a compassionate and considerate system which has the broad support of many in the community. Over time, the sensationalism and doomsday rhetoric of the scheme’s opponents will be seen for what it is. The proof we have the right policy will be shown as more people are referred into our treatment system to the benefit of them, their family, and the wider community.
I am also pleased to report I received some really good news that will go a long way to boosting our alcohol mandatory treatment system. I recently wrote to the federal Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews, congratulating him on his appointment and seeking his support for income management powers to be provided to the Northern Territory’s Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Tribunal. Today, I received word from minister Andrews confirming he supports the Northern Territory’s Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Tribunal receiving income management powers. The swift action displayed by the new federal Minister for Social Services clearly displays the positive change of direction in Canberra. I would like to congratulate minister Andrews for his no nonsense approach who, unlike his Labor predecessor who put politics ahead of policy, will ensure our tribunal gets the powers it need.
This decision means the tribunal has additional powers to tailor individual solutions to individual problems. People appearing before our tribunal may receive up to 70% of their Centrelink funds through the BasicsCard system. The BasicsCard can be used to buy most things except excluded goods and services. These include: alcohol; pornography; tobacco and tobacco products; gambling products; gambling services; home brew kits and home brew concentrate. Further information about the Commonwealth’s income management system can be found on the Department of Human Services website. Providing income management powers will expand the tools available to the tribunal and, therefore, increase the number of people who benefit from their contact with our alcohol mandatory treatment system.
I look forward to providing future updates on this revolutionary program for many quarters to come.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for Health for her report. I will be interested to follow that up in Hansard. As I said before, I support the program but will also be keeping an eye on it. When I get a chance, I will look at the facilities because, as the minister knows, that is the part I had concern with.
The make or break issue will be follow-up of those people once they leave the facility? Will there be a way to track them and find out if their lives are permanently changed, or at least changed for a reasonable length of time? Thank you for your report, minister. It is good to hear you have income management as that will also help.
I want to talk about something that has been mentioned several times in parliament. I raise it because it needs more discussion. The minister has been talking about leases and mentioned Wadeye today. I support the possibility of Aboriginal people owning their houses. To rely on the government to supply all the houses Aboriginal people need is impractical. People should have the same choice as everyone else to purchase their own home. What concerned me was the minister said land was being released at Wadeye for about $240 000. That is a lot of money for a block of land in Darwin, and you have a fairly high income group of people there.
If you have $240 000 as the base for a block of land in Wadeye – we know SIHIP houses cost over $450 000 – you are looking at $700 000 for a house and land package. I am unsure how successful that will be. That is a lot of money and you would need to be on a high income, even a dual income, to buy a house and land package at Wadeye if that was the case. I am interested in the process at Wadeye. For instance, if it is a lease can anyone purchase a house at Wadeye, or is it just for Aboriginal people living in the community?
Is the Chief Minister saying to improve economic development in places like Wadeye land will be sold to people outside the community and they can build a house in the community if they wish? Not much was explained about what release of land at Wadeye meant. I am concerned you can say it is great, but if it means a house and land package around $700 000, that is a fairly large amount of money to pay back on a moderate income.
The minister also mentioned roads and the government improving roads into parts of Arnhem Land. He basically said they are looking at ways to develop the economy in remote areas. I understand and agree with that sentiment. One issue which has not been looked at, and was not resolved by the previous government, is who owns the roads. This is an ongoing issue which needs clarification. If the roads are private it is not for government to fund them. There needs to be some work done on establishing public roads and private roads. If the government or the local council was to maintain a road on a cattle station, there would be a hue and cry because they would say it is not the role of government or local government. To maintain roads on Aboriginal land the same rule should apply. If you want to develop an area you have to get the foundations of that development right.
There have been many discussions about leases on Aboriginal communities. There is a 99-year lease at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. A number of other places have leases. However, if access to those communities is prohibited because they are subject to permits because the roads are private, you wonder if you will get the development the government is promoting. It would nice to hear the government’s policy on development of public roads to a number of Aboriginal communities. In many cases they were in growth towns, but the new government has a new name for them because they want to put a different emphasis on what is happening there.
I am interested in the government’s view on the Labor policy of government facilities paying a lease on Aboriginal land. I have no problem if Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonalds want to put something in a community which requires a lease payment for their commercial premises. The government puts in facilities like schools, aged care facilities, police stations and powerhouses to benefit the community at some cost, and maintains those facilities and pays people to work in those facilities, and is then told they have to pay rental based on the UCV value of the land.
During the last Estimates Committee we received a list of those payments. It is quite considerable. It is not the same on every community; there is no flat rate per school or per police station. This is an illogical approach, originally from the Labor government, to the way we develop facilities on Aboriginal communities. Those facilities are there for the benefit of Aboriginal people – the schools, hospitals, aged care, power houses – and you spend that money for the benefit of the people there. It is not a commercial benefit. Someone puts out their hand and says, ‘Thank you very much, here is the bill’. If someone wants to take over those facilities the government should allow it. They can pay wages, pay for maintenance, and pay for the facilities because they are put there at taxpayer expense. They are not there for profit; they are there for the benefit of the people.
The federal government at the time might have argued it helps the economy in those communities, but it is a false economy. I do not expect the school in my area to be paying a UCV value for use of the land because it is a public facility for the benefit of the community. That same logic should apply on those communities. There should be a lease and rental, and it should be a peppercorn rental. The lease recognises the facilities are on Aboriginal land, recognises there is a payment, but being a peppercorn rent it recognises the facility is there for the benefit of the community not the commercial interests of the government.
I would like to know what the Northern Territory government thinks of that. Will they continue with that program? It will be a substantial amount of money and that is less money to develop other infrastructure which could be beneficial to those communities.
I wanted to raise those issues tonight. One is how the new blocks of land for sale at Wadeye work in practice, and what market the community is looking at to purchase the blocks. If you put a house on it, will it be too expensive? Also, the position of gazetted roads and public roads versus private roads, especially if the government is looking at developing remote communities, and the cost of government facilities in relation to the payment of leases on Aboriginal land.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I would like to inform the House of a great event I attended recently, the new Vietnam display at East Point Military Museum. I would like to acknowledge the great work this museum does in preserving and explaining the history of Darwin.
I was privileged to have recently opened the new Vietnam display at the Darwin Military Museum. They have made great strides at East Point, not just in presenting another facet of our military history, but in preserving the physical aspects of what is there. The blending of the new over the top of the old is beautifully thought out and carefully represented.
To give you a picture of where this is, at the original gun emplacements at East Point there is a fence around what was the Block House. This was used for the coordination of the two 9.2 inch guns located at East Point during World War II. There is one gun emplacement, the Block House, and many sheds surrounded by a fence that is the Darwin Military Museum. Outside that area and a little further to the east is the second gun emplacement during World War II – two 9.2 inch guns.
Inside the fenced area is an intact gun, sadly without the original 9.2 inch guns. That, unfortunately, was taken away in 1963 for scrap metal, ironically to Japan. They have taken exhaust vents and not covered them, making them into display areas. They have covered over the three engine plinths – the base where the generators used to sit in the base and underground – of the 9.2 inch gun emplacement. You can still see the original mount. Sadly, those engines were taken away.
I do not know what it was about Darwin, but if you go to Rottnest Island in Western Australia you will find exactly the same type of gun emplacements, 9.2 inch guns and handling gear. They still have some of the original engines and associated electrics and hydraulics that were used to run the guns. On the walls are photographs of the engines once installed which turned and raised the giant gun. Of course, each of these guns had its own backup power system to provide electricity and hydraulic pressure.
We are making major advances in preserving Northern Territory military history. This place is unique. The northern half of Australia was under attack for two years, with enemy air raids pounding our cities and towns over 100 times. Only now, with the announcement of 19 February being a day of national observance – a credit to the federal member, Natasha Griggs – has the rest of Australia begun to realise the northern war is still largely unknown. I thank Natasha Griggs, the member for Solomon, for pushing this and getting it recognised as a day of national observance.
Only now are Australians flocking to see what has become a major Darwin tourist attraction, and awakening to the fact newly researched by the museum, which was hidden but not by censorship – the Top End’s military history was simply left out of school curriculum history books. Only now is our museum able to place itself as a premier attraction.
I recall driving around the gun emplacements when I came here 32 years ago as a young police officer, and there was a little museum called East Point Military Museum. It was humble in its beginnings, but it is fascinating to see what it looked like and what was there. My father was here during the war and said you were not allowed out there; you were not allowed to look at anything or take photographs. If you were caught out there you were court-martialled. Many of the old World War II veterans came back to Darwin and were able to look at some of the military installations that saw an enormous amount of battle during World War II.
I acknowledge some of the work done by volunteers and people who work at the museum. Sterling work was done over the past years by people like Jack Hayden, Maureen Moore, Neil Benton, John Johnson, Alan Ogden and many others. The Royal Australian Artillery Association today is led by Colonel Jeff Dunn OAM, and the Museum Director is Tom Lewis OAM. They, and many others, are working busily on the operation of the complex.
I give credit to Dr Tom Lewis, a man who is not only the director, but a naval military historian. He works tirelessly researching matters that can be displayed there. He has written about 16 books so far. He edits about four different magazines, and contributes to many other magazines, military and otherwise. Dr Tom Lewis is a major asset to the Northern Territory and, in particular, to our military history. He puts out some great books. I am lucky I have just about every book he has written. They are a fantastic, well-researched, well-presented and well-put-together history of what has occurred in Darwin military going back before World War II and, of course, some in recent times.
I mention also the elements of foreign nations we need to recognise. This is one of the few places in Australia to be a battlefield. Indeed, the site of many battles, commencing on 20 January 1942 when the I-124 submarine was sunk outside our harbour where she remains today. When you fly across to the Tiwi Islands on low tide with clear waters you can see the I-124 lying on the bottom of the ocean. There is a fantastic book Dr Tom Lewis wrote on the I-124. Sadly, time does not allow me to speak about that tonight.
The first American to be lost in combat was Lieutenant Robert Buel, shot down on 15 February in combat with a Japanese aircraft to our north. Many more Americans died. The memorial wall at the museum, an initiative proudly supported by this government, lists 121 members of the United States Navy, 311 members of the United States Army Air Forces, and 19 members of the United States Army. Many have never been found. Their remains lie beneath the waves or scattered far on our land.
Similarly, members of the Japanese forces lost their lives. They fought in honourable combat. They are also ours to protect in the same way Ataturk assured our nation our sons would be safe in Turkish soil after World War I and, of course, the battle of Gallipoli.
The museum director tells me they are researching the names of all World War II dead who fell in northern Australia and adjacent waters and lands. The museum’s memorial wall research is doing what no other institution in northern Australia has done: taking a holistic approach to the term, and embracing the stories of those who died in Western Australia and Queensland.
In summary honourable members, this government is committed to preserving the Northern Territory’s military heritage in dollar and deed.
There are new frontiers still to be conquered at East Point and Darwin Military Museum. They are leading the way and are all deserving of our support. It is important we remember history so we do not repeat it. It is important we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we could be free.
It is with great pride that I have been to Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula on two occasions, something I encourage all to do. It is the same pride I feel when I go to East Point Military Museum. I think and reflect when I am there, of those who served and fought for this country, those who died for our cause, safety and freedom, and those who came back with all types of other things. In previous and recent wars, those members of the services who reside in Darwin have done such a great job in fighting for peace and democracy. Thank you.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Years 3/4 and 5/6 students from St Andrew’s Lutheran Primary School, accompanied by their teacher Rachel Turpin. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House and I hope you enjoy your visit and your time with us today.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also draw your attention to the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of the member for Daly’s wife, Mrs Rhonda Higgins, and friends Barry Solento and Jean Compane. Welcome also.
Members: Hear, hear!
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Behaviour of Members in the House
Behaviour of Members in the House
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I would like to say a few words in regard to the last two days of sittings. It is expected that debate in this House is robust, and so it should be with the importance of it, but it is equally important that respect be shown for the officeholders of this parliament, the electorates of this parliament, and the names of those electorates.
It is not necessarily the person sitting in the electorate, but the electorates in our parliament have all been named after very special people from the Northern Territory, or special places. I ask that you respect this when referring to members and their electorates.
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: It is quite a serious moment.
Mr TOLLNER: Of course it is.
Madam SPEAKER: I doubt the Fong Lim family would be amused by their name being disrespected.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Madam Speaker, you missed my point.
COMMUNITY HOUSING PROVIDERS (NATIONAL UNIFORM LEGISLATION) BILL (Serial 48)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr CONLAN (Housing): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
In the Northern Territory we have a small and developing community housing sector. While it may be small, it plays a critical role in meeting the housing needs of many Territorians. It is a role that is expected to expand considerably in the Territory over the next few years. Community housing organisations provide client focus services and support to their tenants. Community housing is delivered by non-government not-for-profit organisations that manage, own and/or develop affordable rental housing for people on low to moderate incomes, including people with high and complex support needs. Supporting the growth of this sector is consistent with our commitment to support Territorians in social housing.
A strong community housing sector can take pressure off the very costly public housing sector. Unlike the public housing system, the community housing sector can attract tax benefits and access Commonwealth rent assistance which substantially contributes to improved financial viability.
The purpose of the bill is to provide for a national system of registration, monitoring and regulation of community housing providers to be applied in the Northern Territory. The passing of the bill will apply the Community Housing Providers National Law, as set out in Appendix 1 of the bill, to the Territory.
Implementing this national law meets one of the priority items in the reform agenda set out in the National Affordable Housing Agreement which placed significant emphasis on the community housing sector as a key component of an integrated social housing system.
The national law aims to ensure the growth and development of the community housing sector is supported through a consistent regulatory environment. It will help to reduce the regulatory burden on housing providers working across jurisdictions, and provide a level playing field for providers seeking to enter new jurisdictions.
It is expected this law will bring national community housing providers with resources and expertise to the Territory to complement, support and, potentially partner, with our existing sector. The national law provides for:
a single national Register of Community Housing Providers
The views of community housing providers and non-government service providers in the Northern Territory were taken into consideration in the development of the national regulatory system. As part of a nationwide consultation, public forums were held in Darwin and Alice Springs in December 2011.
Further consultations were held in Darwin in August 2012. At these forums participates indicated broad support for the national regulatory system. Registration under the national system will be voluntary. However, Commonwealth, state and territory governments may make NRSCH registration a precondition for receiving funding or investment and for delivering funded housing services.
The introduction of the national regulatory system provides a framework to guide the future development of the community housing sector. The national system is tiered in recognition that community housing providers operate at different scales. This means there will be different levels of compliance required of providers depending on their size, scale, and complexity of their operations. Housing providers who choose to participate will be registered in one of three tiers:
Tier 1 represents the most sophisticated housing providers with asset procurement and development functions, and the ability to grow social and affordable housing supply through construction, purchase and acquisition, and/or complex tenancy and property management functions that operate at scale
Tier 2 includes housing providers typically involved in moderately complex asset and tenancy management activities
Tier 3 housing providers are typically involved in small-scale tenancy management activities.
This bill supports the growth and development of a vital part of the housing system of the community housing sector. It connects us nationally and applies a consistent environment for providers to operate across jurisdictions. This national regulatory system will facilitate investment in the sector by providing confidence in the governance of community housing providers, as registered providers will be required to meet the outcomes of the national regulatory code.
The national regulatory system will reduce red tape by minimising the regulatory burden for providers operating across multiple jurisdictions as regulation can be managed by a single lead registrar.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (ELECTION) AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 47)
(Serial 47)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mrs PRICE (Statehood): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to amend the Constitutional Convention (Election) Act to prevent its expiry on 31 December 2013.
The previous Legislative Assembly endorsed the Constitutional Convention Election model recommended by the Statehood Steering Committee. In October 2011, the Eleventh Assembly passed the Constitutional Convention (Election) Act and agreed to defer implementation of the statehood program until a time to be decided by the government in the Twelfth Assembly. However, the provisions of the bill passed presumed the constitutional conventions would be held in 2012 and 2013 and provided for the expiry of the act at the end of 2013.
The proposed amendments seek to extend the life of the bill to facilitate implementation of the statehood program within a more flexible time frame. The bill amends the definition of ‘Constitutional Convention’ to mean the Statehood Constitutional Convention for the Territory, and removes the prior reference to dates. In addition, the bill seeks to repeal Part 9 Expiry of the Act.
The government remains committed to achieving statehood, and has already allocated funding for the re-establishment of an Office of Statehood within the Department of Legislative Assembly. In keeping with the long-standing bipartisan approach on this important issue, the government is considering a revised timetable from the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for the path to statehood.
Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 35)
(Serial 35)
Continued from 21 August 2013.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, thank you for pronouncing so accurately the name of the electorate of the people I represent.
Given so much of the bill we are about to discuss is about giving voices back to people in regional areas and in the bush, I cannot let the moment pass without making the comment about how on the one hand, the CLP talks about giving the voice to people, yet on the floor of this parliament this morning we saw a despicable act by the Chief Minister, closing down Question Time 15 minutes early. If this House is not about the voice of the Territory coming through from our constituents on all sides of the House, then I do not know what it is for. The Chief Minister is not interested in the voices of Territorians when he can make such a despicable move and is supported by his side.
Thankfully, not all on his side supported that, unbeknown to him, as he received a lecture from the Leader of the Opposition. Clearly, other members in the lobby room quickly rallied and decided to come in, tails between their legs, and allow Question Time to restart. We are pleased the government allowed Question Time to resume for 15 minutes. Giving Territorians a voice, whether it be through the Local Government Amendment Bill or the parliament, is their right. To any government, especially the CLP government which chose to shut that down, shame on you.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Local Government Amendment Bill, and I thank the minister’s office for the briefing I received last week. It is not quite the bill I was expecting, nor the bill many people out bush were expecting. It does not deliver on the pre-election promise of the CLP to ‘get rid of the shires’ – the ‘toxic shires’ as the current Chief Minster repeatedly labelled them from the opposition benches.
This bill does not break up shires or get rid of shires, toxic or otherwise, and falls a long way short of the changes and reforms the CLP talked up in the last four years and in the lead-up to the August 2012 election. In reality, it is yet another broken promise amongst the litany of broken promises for Territorians, especially those who live out bush.
Without a doubt, the promised reforms and the CLP’s view on what needed to be done have seen policy chopped, changed and backflipped, due in no small part to the turmoil and the personal feuds going on within the CLP’s ranks. In little more than a year, we have seen three ministers for Local Government. We had the member for Braitling, the current Chief Minister, who labelled the shires toxic and started a review process after the election. Then we had the member for Namatjira installed as Local Government minister in March after the member for Blain was deposed while away in Japan. The member for Namatjira had her own ideas about how the review process might look and distanced herself from the former minister, who she famously labelled a ‘little boy’. For her disloyalty – or was it for her incompetence? – she was dumped from Cabinet and relegated to the backbench where she sits today.
Then, only a few weeks ago, the portfolio was handed to the member for Fong Lim, who must have wondered what he had done wrong to pick up the Local Government portfolio. He inherited the reform process and a bill which has chopped and changed, even though we know he has no affinity with the bush, is on the record labelling communities as ‘hellholes’, and is a strong supporter of urban drift. It would suit the member for Fong Lim and the CLP not to deal with the complexities of service delivery for people who live out bush, but have them move to larger centres on the Stuart Highway.
In fact, it would probably suit them to see the whole of Nhulunbuy move to the Stuart Highway because they are not interested in supporting the township of Nhulunbuy and the region it serves. Having three ministers in little over a year does not serve the interests of Territorians and is unhelpful, to say the least, in delivering effective reforms in one of the most crucial areas of responsibility: local government.
The bill does not impact upon municipal councils and does little more than rebadge the shires – a name change from shire council to regional council, and local boards become local authorities. I acknowledge this bill endeavours to strengthen the rebadged local boards to local authorities, but how is it after what they claim to be extensive community consultations that on the eleventh hour we have amendments about who the chair of the local authority should be. I also note that much of the power rests with the minister for Local Government through guidelines which have only recently become available, not through the legislation itself. Of course, a major question mark which hangs over the new process is how this cry poor government proposes to fund these changes, notably, the cost associated with local authorities. I will come back to those issues.
It is important to look at the history of local government in the Territory and the recognition from both sides of this House. I include the member for Nelson in that mix. There was a need for change and a need to strengthen the local government sector, particularly in our remote areas. Change is needed to improve service delivery, and accountability and transparency about how services are delivered to residents.
During more than two decades in government, the CLP failed to address the deficiencies in local government in remote communities; they simply were not up to it. When Labor came to government in the historic win in 2001, there was a raft of issues that had been ignored by the CLP which had to be addressed, including the state of local government and community government councils.
Mr Elliot McAdam, the former member for Barkly who held the Local Government portfolio for Labor, summed it up when he addressed LGANT in March 2006:
- In March 2006 my department conducted a risk assessment of 56 councils – that is the 30 community government councils, the 23 association councils and the 3 ‘ORAC’ councils. This risk assessment classified 50 per cent of the councils as either ‘high risk’ or ‘dysfunctional’.
In the last six months, 22 councils (38% of all community government and association councils) have advertised or re-advertised for a Chief Executive. Eight Chief Executive positions have been re-advertised within the last 12 months – in other words, we are still seeing high numbers of newly recruited CEOs resigning within a year.
In the last six months, the department has been required to make 17 major interventions into the affairs of councils due to financial, administrative and/or governance irregularities.
These interventions included four ‘show cause’ notices to Chief Executives involving allegations of serious financial mismanagement.
Clearly this situation cannot continue.
I acknowledge some community government councils worked effectively and honestly to deliver services, but the majority did not and had to be changed to ensure there was accountability, transparency and, importantly, democratic representation.
Democratic representation is at the core of the three tiers of government, but we know in the old community government council model that was not always the case. Often it was those people who held status and, with it, power, who were the decision-makers.
The editorial in the NT News on 28 January this year said:
- Many small councils were dysfunctional and occasionally corrupt. They had to go.
I also note the member for Namatjira was a supporter of Labor’s reforms in the days she sat within Labor’s ranks. Indeed, when she spoke in support of Labor’s local government reform bill on 7 May 2008 she said:
- I have always believed in this reform and, with this bill being passed today, it gives us the opportunity to think outside the square. For far too long we have just thought about our individual little community. We have thought about Papunya in isolation to Kintore, in isolation to Mt Liebig, in isolation to Haasts Bluff, when in fact we only live a couple of hours from each other. This bill will make Indigenous people in the Northern Territory think more about their region, their language and their clan rather than their little communities. There is also the opportunity for regional job opportunities for Indigenous people, such as regional road construction, and regional housing construction.
That is fine praise from the member for Namatjira for Labor’s reforms.
Labor’s reforms to local government, which were passed in 2008, saw shires come into being on 1 July 2008, just before my arrival into the role of elected member for Nhulunbuy.
The changes were significant and challenging, but let us not forget the changes were also swept up in the mix of the federal government’s intervention into the Northern Territory under the Northern Territory Emergency Response legislation just 12 months before the introduction of shires.
When we talk about local people losing their voices, that is where we go – John Howard, Mal Brough and the Liberal government sending the Army to the Northern Territory with no notice and no advice to people who saw Army trucks rolling into their communities, fearful this was another episode of the Stolen Generation. Some communities hid their children, and people in those communities were labelled and shamed as drunks, purveyors of pornographic material and abusers of children, with special measures imposed on their communities in which they had no say.
If we are talking about the voices of people, let us not forget what the role of the federal Liberal government’s intervention in 2007 imposed upon the Northern Territory and people in our remote areas, predominantly Indigenous people.
I know the difficulties of bedding down local government reforms, and some shires have had better success than others since their commencement in 2008. I know the West Arnhem Shire has had its difficulties. The former member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, spoke about her frustrations as a local member trying to see the West Arnhem Shire strengthen and function effectively for the benefit of all its residents.
Progressively, many of the shires have grown and strengthened under locally-elected members of shire councils and the relationship with the people in the communities they are elected to represent. Taking the voice and concerns of those people to the executive has seen strong and positive representation and growth. That includes growth around strengthening governance as to how these local government councils operate.
Debate suspended.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 35)
(Serial 35)
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, in the lead-up to the election, the member for Blain, as Leader of the Opposition, announced at Maningrida on 24 July 2012 that there would be regional councils where there was support of the majority of residents in a region – mind you, we do not know what constitutes a region – business modelling that supports financial sustainability, and shires and regional councils would be supported to pursue new business activities to expand their service and revenue base.
Following the Maningrida announcement the ABC reported:
- The opposition says if it wins power in next month’s election local communities could be given the choice to break away from the super shires and form their own autonomous regional councils.
Without a doubt, the CLP pre-election took this message to the bush about breakaway councils, and there were a number of promises made. Within my own electorate of Nhulunbuy, the CLP candidate had declared Elcho Island, or Galiwinku, should be entitled to its own regional council, not simply a ward of the East Arnhem Shire. Indeed, if that is what that community desires then all power to them.
The other promise was in the electorate of Arnhem, with separate councils for each community. In the seat of Daly, there was the promise of the return to community councils, including for the large community of Wadeye to have its own regional council. We know from an announcement on 17 August 2012 at Borroloola that the CLP supported a local land council and the establishment of a regional council, along with a swag of other promises in the contract signed with members at Borroloola by the leader of the CLP at that time, the member for Blain. We know in the seat of Stuart there were promises of breaking up the Central Desert and the Vic Daly Shires, and in the electorate of Namatjira the promise of breaking up shires and the establishment of new and smaller regional councils.
It was a slightly different story post-election when the new CLP dismantled the task force which had been established under former Labor Local Government minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, which had been pulled together to review the shires. The CLP established its own task force called the Regional Governance Working Group with a cross-section of interested stakeholders appointed by the minister to consider and develop an options paper for the way forward for local government.
However, in the meantime, the CLP was also sending very mixed messages about exactly what their plans were. It was reported on the ABC on 22 November that Terry Mills, then Chief Minister, had said after a meeting with the Territory’s four Aboriginal land councils that the system of shires had failed and would be replaced. The member for Braitling, as Minister for Local Government, on 22 November 2012 on ABC radio said:
- I think regional councils are an option, that is, a large council but nowhere near as big as a shire, with a headquarters in the region itself.
On 13 March 2013 the member for Braitling said:
- The regional council structure will be smaller than a shire. It will be a new model of regional governance. One option is for regional councils, smaller than the shires, with community style councils below them.
That is not what this bill presents today. That is not what is in this bill flagged by the former Chief Minister and the current Chief Minister. The current Chief Minister previously had carriage of local government matters.
With the passing of the local government baton to the member for Namatjira, we had from the minister – who once famously stated people had been consulted to death – a round of Territory-wide consultations. The feedback I received from those consultations – and I saw it in my electorate – was that the meetings were poorly advertised, often poorly attended, and many people got a strong sense the government had a predetermined idea of what it wanted to do with local government and shires. Other feedback from people who attended meetings was that this consultation process would deliver a rebadging exercise, and the government had no money to do anything else. You can imagine how disappointed people were to receive those messages.
I also had feedback from two people who were members of the Regional Governance Working Group. There was a decline in attendance of members of the Regional Governance Working Group from when they were established in November 2012 to their last meeting in June 2013. I do not have the document with me, but out of the estimates process the minister provided me with a list of attendees. Clearly, attendance had dropped from around 21 members at the beginning and, at the last meeting in June, only 11 members of the Regional Governance Working Group attended.
I take that to mean people lost interest in the process once they realised the government had a pre-determined idea of which way they wanted to go. The breakup of the shires was not an option, and only two options were presented.
The final report on the options came as a great disappointment to many, with a number of people and organisations seeing option one as pretty much the existing model with a new name – essentially, a rebadging. Option one is the path the government has chosen to go down. Option two is not regional councils but regional authorities.
The report notes there were 32 submissions, and some of the submissions are quoted in the final consultation report. If they were available on the website they were extremely well hidden. I have not been able to obtain or read all of them, but I did get hold of a selection by making direct contact with the authors to see what people had to say. Some interesting points and arguments were raised, and I would like to visit some of those. The Central Land Council put in a submission. I will not read it all, but of the five recommendations it put forward number two was:
- That the Northern Territory government commit to a process of negotiation, rather than consultation, to allow Aboriginal people at both the regional and local level, to participate in the design of their own governance arrangements.
The third recommendation said:
- That Option 1 not proceed as it is likely to result in yet another round of confusion and change for little gain. Instead, the status quo should effectively be maintained while the hard work of negotiating and designing new arrangements is commenced.
The Barkly Shire Council put in a submission. Its opening statement begins with:
- The Barkly Shire considers retention of the present system of local government in the Northern Territory to be its preferred option. In reaching this conclusion, the shire took into account the relatively young age of the shires – less than five years since incorporation – and the background of their commencement, i.e. a 2006 assessment of NT local government entities found that at least half of the 56 current councils were classified as either high risk or dysfunctional.
I refer to the speech made by Elliot McAdam, the Local Government minister at the time.
The Barkly Shire indicates in its executive summary:
- … strong support of local boards which should be strengthened to provide more efficient local forums.
I do not think anybody would disagree with that aspect. In regard to option one, Barkly Shire Council made the observation:
- At initial glance, option one appears to be similar to the current model of shire. Queries arise over how many additional councils might be incorporated if this option was adopted. If option one was to be adopted, will most communities such as Canteen Creek, Irrultja and Mungkarta be brought into the regional council proposal? The discussion paper does not address possible changes to local government boundaries.
- While the Barkly Shire supports this model, it does so with reservations.
- Regardless of whatever model or option is adopted, sufficient financial resourcing must be of prime importance.
- The Deloitte report concluded that in the long term, none of the existing NT shire councils will be financially sustainable unless remedial action is taken. It is considered the options, as presented, would, in this shire’s opinion, increase financial obligations on local government, rather than decrease.
In conclusion, the preferred option of the Barkly Shire would be retention of the status quo.
There is a brief submission from the East Arnhem Shire, but I am sure any submission is welcome. It is all about people having the opportunity for their voice to be heard is it not?
The submission from East Arnhem Shire, and shire president Banambi Wunungmurra, opens with:
- The East Arnhem Shire Council takes pride in its ability to strengthen community and has consistently worked to ensure that the voice of the community is heard.
Being the local member for about half the East Arnhem Shire Council communities, I know that to be true.
He goes on to say:
- Council was disappointed and concerned to note that only two options were presented. It was determined, in council’s opinion, that there was no effort made to consult with elected members, there was no effort directed towards formal consultations with the existing community advisory boards.
- Council was not directly consulted even after invitations were sent to representatives requesting them to attend council meetings. It is noted that the working group has a representative from Barkly Shire Council and LGANT. However, the lack of direct consultation with East Arnhem Shire Council is inappropriate and disappointing.
As shadow for Local Government, I have endeavoured to make contact with those in the local government sector and with some of the shires, not all of them. I have had a strong sense that government has not done everything it could to engage with the shires, the CEOs and the elected members. While they have consulted widely, I believe the sector has been overlooked. I was surprised when I spent some time in Katherine in July and had the opportunity to meet, not for the first time, the CEO of the Victoria Daly Shire, Mr Stuart Duncan. He has had much contact with government about local government reforms and the matters associated with the Victoria Daly Shire. By contrast, when I had the opportunity to meet the CEO of Roper Gulf Shire in Katherine in July, I was surprised to learn that neither the local member, not the Minister for Local Government – at that time we were at number two – had made contact with the Roper Gulf Shire. They had had no meetings with the CEO, the president or the mayor of that shire, and no meeting with elected councillors.
When the Education minister says it is a tough gig getting to all the schools in the Northern Territory but he is trying – we are talking about eight shires. If the first Minister for Local Government in the first few months could not manage to get around to shires, you have to ask what was going on. We were chipped at the LGANT Conference in February by an elected councillor from the Tiwi Shire that he had yet to meet with members of the Tiwi Shire Council, despite him knowing the Local Government minister and the Chief Minister had made a few visits to the Tiwi Islands, albeit not to the Tiwi Shire Council but the Tiwi Land Council.
Having read from the letter of the East Arnhem Shire, I get a sense that the level of engagement with the third tier of local government in the Northern Territory and our shires, to an extent, has been snubbed in this process.
I do not have the MacDonnell Shire submission. It was to be e-mailed to me and I have not received it yet. However, I had a good phone conversation recently about the issues for MacDonnell Shire, feedback around these reforms, and about how it is logistically, practically and financially that MacDonnell Shire can afford to pay for their 13 boards which will become authorities for more than 100 meetings a year across an area of 249 000 km.
Given MacDonnell Shire cannot get operational funds out of the Northern Territory government to open its three pools this summer at Areyonga, Santa Teresa and Kintore, it will not surprise you to learn they are wondering how they are expected to pay for a new layer of bureaucracy within their shire structure. While financial sustainability of shires is a critical issue, which is why Labor commissioned and welcomed the Deloitte report, how the cost of the CLP’s reforms will be met is unanswered by this government.
Also, the other implication for MacDonnell Shire is its 13 boards currently meet, on average, three times a year. I am told it is workable for the boards and the shire to program in those three meetings a year but they will, under this new legislation and guidelines, be forced to have a minimum of six meetings a year involving much more organising, more cost, and a lot more of people’s time, admittedly being paid for which is fine, but not necessarily where this shire may want to be spending money.
Quite apart from funding the rebadged boards – I do not begrudge community representatives on boards or authorities receiving sitting fees – we know people suffer meeting fatigue in these communities. There seem to be constant rounds of consultations and duplication of groups of people. The idea of having one ‘go to’ group of people, whether they are a board or an authority, is sensible. It also means people need to plan ahead to visit communities so they can fit in with the board or authority rather than the other way around.
The other thing this flags is how much is local government responsibility if much of the agenda is beyond local government? There might be a group of people from some federal government agency – FaHCSIA – to discuss whatever the issues might be, but local government seems to be the one-stop shop for everything. You have to ask why local governments need to fund these meetings if people are meeting to discuss education – perhaps the cuts to teachers in their schools. That would be a very popular agenda item in some of our bush schools at the moment. While the opposition does not oppose sitting fees, it seems to be putting the cart before the horse.
There will also be enormous costs associated with the rebadge from shire councils to regional councils across eight shires. Think of all the corporate logo changes and redesigns from employee uniforms to badging on vehicles, to stationery and everything else that goes with a changeover. The costs have to be massive.
Look across other agencies which, in the last 12 months, have been on the merry-go-round of agency name changes. I was at Yirrkala Homeland School a few weeks ago for a morning tea and admired a smart navy blue blouse one of the admin ladies was wearing. It was embroidered in white with the Northern Territory government logo and beneath it had, ‘Department of Education and Children’s Services’. They had received the shirts the day after the last reshuffle which saw the Department of Education returned to a stand-alone agency. We had a chuckle about the fact the new uniforms had just arrived and had already dated.
There was also a submission from Darwin City Council, again very brief, just a one-page letter, acknowledging, through the minister, they had looked at the options paper. I have highlighted one sentence from Mayor Fong Lim’s letter to minister Anderson. It states:
- The options paper highlights the significant differences in own source revenue between municipal councils and regional councils. The paper is silent on the long-term financial sustainability of either the regional council or regional authority model. The City of Darwin considers it is imperative that financial sustainability is also a key guiding principle for any new regional governance model.
Very good words of advice there from Mayor Fong Lim, which have not been taken on board.
Even the President of the MacDonnell Shire, Mr Sid Anderson, was quoted in Alice Springs media on 2 July 2013. He said communities were pleased with his shire’s work, but he would be happier if the body called itself something other than ‘shires’. This is what he said:
- (Residents) ask themselves, why all these changes again? It’s all confusing.
The issue of how these costs would be addressed was mentioned in the member for Namatjira’s media release on 12 August 2013, ‘Local voices in local authorities’. At that time, it was heralded by the member for Namatjira, who was then the Local Government minister, as the greatest achievement of the CLP since coming into government the year before – an achievement so great the Chief Minister was not there beside her. In fact, he was in Maningrida that day.
In the media release the member for Namatjira said:
- Stage two … will involve a full review into sustainability and viability of regional local government in the Northern Territory. Any further changes such as boundaries will be a result of this process.
Presenting stage two reforms to Cabinet by January 2014 – assuming the new Local Government minister takes it on board – is surely doing things back to front. Why is there no mention from the minister – any Local Government minister; we are now on our third one – of the Deloitte report into financial sustainability of the shires and their decision to proceed and implement the remedial actions outlined in that report?
Do we take it stage three will be a review of boundaries? How will that review occur? Will we see yet another round of consultations? Will the Regional Governance Working Group be brought back for that? What will the time frame be? Let me guess: pre-2016 election, timed so the CLP government can make more election promises which, like the last election promises, they do not intend keeping.
The amendments dropped on our desks this morning highlight that the CLP does not have these reforms right, nor the legislation, with amendments at the eleventh hour.
In the brief second reading speech to this bill delivered on 21 August by the then Local Government minister, the member for Namatjira stated:
- … the chair of a local authority will be a council member who represents a relevant ward. This will ensure there is direct line and voice from local authorities to the council.
Minister, you got it wrong; that is not what people wanted. So much for all the crowing about consulting and listening to people. They do not want you to appoint the chair who would be an elected member, they want to have the power to appoint or, in the view of the member for Nelson, elect, which is probably preferable, their own chair. Hence, we have amendments to deal with in the committee stage.
The current Local Government minister, the member for Fong Lim, is not a well-known supporter of the bush. He will keep control of expenditure on the new councils so, as Treasurer, he can use savings where his real interests lie.
What we know about this government is what they say and what they do are often two different things. This is far from what the member for Namatjira described as the CLP’s finest moment after 12 months in government.
Shires have been rebadged as regional councils. They say, ‘We have listened and have met our promise’. Not so. What was promised was a breakup of the shires, regional councils with support of the majority of residents in a region, and business modelling to support financial sustainability. What we have is another broken promise, and a further promise of more work to come.
Minister Anderson had committed to a stage two full review into the financial sustainability and viability of regional local government in the Northern Territory, due in January 2014. I look forward to hearing from the minister when he wraps up this debate if that is still the plan.
He is Treasurer, and how do we know where these plans might go? In fact, does the Treasurer support the previous minister’s view when she said any further changes, such as boundaries, will follow as a result of this process, knowing changing boundaries and creating additional regional councils will bring with it, without a doubt, additional costs? How will decisions be made as to how boundary changes will work and where they will draw the line to say, ‘Sorry, you cannot have a regional council in that area’?
The CLP’s work on rebadging the shires has taken priority over the real financial sustainability challenges of local government in the bush – Structural issues, like building a better income base and support with roads and asset management. As one person said to me during the business of local government reform, the problem is not local government, it is more the dissatisfaction residents in areas have felt about how housing repairs and maintenance have been handled, given that sits with Territory Housing not local government. We are yet to see what plans and answers will come from the Treasurer, now our Minister for Local Government, on these issues.
What do we have? A result where the establishment of local authorities and their role lies in the hands of the minister with great discretion to change and amend arrangements by ministerial decree, because much of what happens is outlined in the guidelines that became available on the Internet only a few days ago.
We will see an additional financial and administrative burden on our regional councils or shires. Will we see the six to eight meetings a year that must be held across each local authority? Will those sitting dates be published and publicly available so people know when they are meeting?
Having more openness on how regional councils will spend their funds at particular locations is not a bad thing at all. In fact, good accounting practice was developing within each shire’s annual plans. An opportunity for local authorities and boards to make recommendations on expenditure of a nominal budget for their community or location is also a positive.
The opportunity for a local authority or board to participate in the development of shire regional council annual plans is a positive, and one already available to existing local boards, many of which have taken up that opportunity with vigour. When you look at stable shires with little employee turnover, and, similarly, where you have elected members who serve their term – in the MacDonnell Shire there has not been a single by-election since it was established, so every elected member has seen out their term. Whilst there has been a turnover of members, it is only as a result of two elections, not by-elections. There is a similar result in my electorate with the East Arnhem Shire. Sadly, there have been several by-elections as a result of an elected member passing away.
The East Arnhem Shire has also been effective because they have not had the turnover in staff and elected councillors. They have been able to build something sustainable and, within that, the governance structures and the capacity for people to know what their roles are, and the fact they have a voice at the table. That is an important voice feeding back through the channels what people from communities really want from their shire council, or regional council as it will now be.
Madam Speaker, the opposition supports stronger voices and representation. There are elements of this bill we support; however, in its current form it falls well short of expectation in the promises made. It certainly fails to address financial matters associated with implementation of the reforms. For these reasons, we have reservations and will not support this bill today. Thank you.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for a very well-researched speech on the problems we have with local government and what is being put forward today. I refer to the second reading of this bill where the minister said:
- The Local Government Act sets out the legislative framework for local government in the Northern Territory …
…
The bill seeks to introduce a new category of councils, namely regional councils.
…
The bill also provides for the minister to identify, through a Gazette notice, a part of any regional council that must have a local authority
…
The bill abolishes regional management plans that are currently provided for in the act.
That is what this is about, yet the government said local government was toxic and needed big changes. That has not happened. I was a critic of the previous system and believed many communities lost the ability to have a meaningful say. I mention Nauiyu, Barunga and Beswick, and I presume there are other places. I support any moves to make that happen; however, in this case the government has not given shires a chance to look at the whole gamut of issues required before amending local government. This is a case of the cart before the horse.
You have said you will look, in stage two, at the viability and boundaries. Before doing that, you have added $720 000 to $1m in fees. If all the local authorities met 10 times a year and had between 10 and 14 members, that would cost local government $720 000 to $1m a year. You might say, ‘We will give them more money’. I know what that is like; I have been around long enough to know, ‘Yes, we will give you some money for the first couple of years and after that you are on your own’.
I have seen it with libraries. There will be a cost. You have burdened councils with a new cost knowing full well that if you read the document you put out at the beginning of the consultation in March this year, the Victoria Daly Shire made, in 2011-12, 4% from rates and charges, and Roper Gulf Shire made 2%. The issue for shires is raising revenue, and we have not gone down that path. We have said, ‘We need to look at this. Local authorities, here is the bill.’ We have not told them how they will pay that bill.
The big issue for councils is financial viability. Both Barkly and Darwin City Councils recognise that. I have not spoken to other councils, but you do not need to be Einstein because Deloitte says the same thing.
We are setting up new processes which have not been costed. I have only given you the sitting fees. We have travel allowance, and there will be a need for computers. The regional council will have to maintain the local authorities, which means more administrative costs for them. There is a range of things which will impact on the cost of running the councils. Has that been costed? Has the government said, ‘We understand it will cost this much money and we have processes in place to offset that’?
This sounds nice, and that is the problem with the local government amendment – it sounds nice. However, when you dig down a little deeper you realise it is not quite as simple as you make out, and that concerns me.
If you were fair dinkum about options in local government, why have only two options? Why not have a range of options? Why not have the Jack Ah Kit option of 24 local governments? I have heard that will cost too much in administration. Perhaps the government needs to look at why these councils need so much administration. If we have a Local Government Act so full of requirements that the basic core functions of looking after roads, rates, road reserves and rubbish requires people with $200 000-plus salaries and a huge amount of qualifications, we have moved the possibility of Aboriginal people having managerial power over their communities further away than ever.
We might have had faults with the previous community government council system, but local people had far more chance of being involved in management of those councils than they have now. We now have big councils with their centre away from the shire. Even if they are in the shire, they are at a town away from where the people are.
We did not even consider the boundary changes. If you set up local authorities, would it not be common sense to say, ‘Let’s look at the boundaries first’. If local government thinks the boundary should be a different shape and we might have more regional councils, there may not be a need for some local authorities. We have said, ‘These are the boundaries. There are 64 regional local authorities.’ That is more than the number of community councils we had previously.
That is why I say the cart before the horse. We should have looked at how councils can raise revenue. If that means looking at Aboriginal land, it should have been looked at. If it means we go to the Commonwealth government to see if Aboriginal land can be rated, that is what we do.
We should have given people the option of boundary changes. However, we gave them two options which are not really options. One is to have a local council or local authority. One has more power than the other and that is it. One will take on the bigger picture stuff, one the midrange stuff.
We have lost the plot. The issue for most people in local government is provision of local government services. Local government is about providing essential services. The previous government hiked all types of things on top of that; anything from Centrelink, post office, stores, gardens, but they are not essential services from a local government point of view.
We started off and local government became involved. You would have to talk to the councils to see if they believed it was fantastic or not. Instead of saying, ‘Let’s start at the beginning and get councils on the road with the core functions’, we gave them other responsibilities. That has not changed here. The minister can tell a regional council to do this and that. That should not be the case until they get their core functions in order - the roads are okay with no potholes and are up to standard, the place is tidy, the grass is cut, the rubbish is picked up, the cemetery is okay, and the rubbish dump is being looked after. That is what local government is about. Once you get those working properly, if you have sufficient funds you can take on other roles. Again, not much of that is discussed here.
However, I raise a small matter, minister. You changed the name to regional councils, and in parliament recently you said, ‘We have removed shires’. You have not because clause 7(1) of the bill, under section 9(1)(b), says:
- (b) determine whether a local government area is a municipality, a region or a shire.
You have not removed shires. None might exist, but you have not removed them. Why have you bothered to change the name? The member for Nhulunbuy raised a great point. I told you how much it will cost to run local authorities. Here is the Barkly Shire with its nice logo. It changes to Barkly Regional Council so that all goes out the door. I venture they will have to change every signpost throughout a council one-and-a-half times bigger than Tasmania. There is a cost. I ask the minister, what need was there to change that name? Was it thought up by someone in the department? Who thought of ‘regional’? Regional, in most other places, means a group of councils have come together as a regional council. If a bunch of shires in Queensland get together they call them a regional council. For some reason, we have dug up a name when there was no need to change it. We could have called it a shire with local authorities. There are no other shires; these are the only ones. Why change the name? You have added another cost to the process.
Of all the things councils are struggling with, it is the viability of the council. You need to go no further than the Deloitte report to tell you that. We have superficial changes. ‘Look what we have done, we have changed the name.’ What does that mean? Does it make any difference to whether the rubbish is picked up, the road is straight, the cemetery is being looked after, or the rubbish dump is not burning? No, it does not. It just adds another cost and another name. It is cosmetic and does not mean anything.
My concern is that when this went out for consultation, local government was not given enough options, even if the options were unlikely to happen. You could have asked, ‘Do you want to return to community government councils?’ That is an option. ‘Do you want to look at the Jack Ah Kit model of 24 councils?’ That is an option. ‘Do you want to look at serious boundary changes?’ We might have reached 10 or 11 councils.
For instance, I understand Lajamanu is in the Central Desert Shire Council, 1000 km from Tobermorey. It does not make much sense to me if you are trying to run a local council. One is nearly on the Western Australian border and the other is just about on the Queensland border, yet it is just down the road from Kalkarindji and Daguragu, both in the Vic Daly Shire. Those things should have been discussed before we went down this path. We should have been looking at boundary changes, then looked at local authorities to match the boundary changes. The logic to me is silly and the wrong way around.
I am not against the government saying there should be reform; there should be. I am on the record saying these councils are far too big. The top of the amendments says ‘local government’. If you want a definition of local, it is not Tobermorey versus Lajamanu. That is halfway across the continent. Local means local. We have lost that, and the reason we want to bring the community back into the decision-making process is in the beginning – I do not blame the present government; I disagreed with what the previous government was doing – we took out the local. We could have had smaller councils not requiring lots of local authorities.
We should have worked out how this could be done with a local feel about it that worked on the ground and related to where roads met. People say we need councils connected by cultural affiliations or language. We are picking up rubbish, fixing roads and looking after the tip. This is not about culture. It is about delivery of essential services for human beings living in a community. It should be done on a practical basis because there is a cost, and sometimes we get the airy-fairy people with great ideas. That is fine, but a council should be as cost-efficient as possible to deliver essential services every person in the community has a right to, regardless of whether they are white or black, or speak one language or another language. That should be what local government is about.
We should have looked at the boundaries first. If you go back to stage two and look at the boundaries, what happens if a review means more councils and smaller communities? Will you get rid of some of the local authorities? Are they a waste of money? Again, things are back to front.
The idea of a local authority has merit; do not get me wrong, I know what you are trying to do. People say they have lost control over their lives and do not have the input they should. The principle I can live with, but I would be much happier if, before we went down this expensive path, we fixed the boundaries and the viability. This is a silly piece of legislation. It has positives, but they are before their time and the government has it the wrong way around.
Issues have been raised by other councils and spoken of by the member for Nhulunbuy. I also have copies of that. Barkly Shire, the largest shire in the Northern Territory and bigger than Tasmania said:
- Regardless of whatever model or option is adopted, sufficient financial resourcing must be of prime importance.
The Deloitte report concluded in the long term, none of the existing NT shire councils will be financially sustainable unless remedial action is taken. It is considered the options, as presented, would in the shire’s opinion increase financial obligation on local government rather than decrease.
This is exactly what I said. This is coming from the horse’s mouth; the people in the business. It makes you wonder if when the government consulted it really cared, or was this a predetermined arrangement. The paper goes on:
- Without appropriate remedial action being taken, including increased operational funding either through government or external sources, regional councils would also become financially unsustainable earlier than the current system of local government in remote areas. If this issue is not recognised and resolved, then all other issues, proposals and options become academic. The loser will be the residents of towns and communities throughout the Northern Territory.
In conclusion, the preferred option of the Barkly Shire would be retention of the status quo.
That could not be any clearer, and they are dead right. Whilst the government might say, ‘We will pay for local authorities for the first few years’, if you have 14 members in each authority and they meet 10 times a year, it will cost between $720 000 and $1m in sitting fees. That money should be spent on providing services. That is what Barkly is saying. The government might say, ‘We are providing that money’ but three years down the track it will not be there. Governments take money away when they feel like it, and these councils will have to find the money for sitting fees.
I would prefer the government to drop this legislation at present and bring forward stages two and three so you have an overall approach to local government reform. This is, taking a small bit and applying it before you have finished the complete picture. You do not even know what the complete picture is.
Rates are a big issue. Revenue raising for local shires in the Northern Territory is one of the main issues Deloitte raised because you cannot rate Aboriginal land. Some money will come from NT government housing in lease payments, but the major landowner in communities is not rateable.
Should that be changed by law, or should the federal government pay what would normally be rates? They do that with the Department of Defence. Land owned by the Commonwealth, especially the Department of Defence, will pay councils money in lieu of what they would have received if the land had been rateable.
Whilst that might be good for the council’s budget, it does not really teach people that they pay rates because they are part of a shire which will provide essential services. Otherwise, someone else is doing it and you have no idea and could not care less. Paying rates makes you part of the shire and gives some ownership because the council ensures provision of essential services.
I also spoke to the Victoria Daly CEO. He is concerned about removing Wadeye from the Victoria Daly. I do not know all the details but I have heard that is the proposal. That may or may not be okay, but we are putting these proposals forward. On the other hand, we are talking about removing Maningrida. I believe they want to be removed from the existing shire and there may be some good reasons for that. I am not barracking for either side, but there could be severe financial implications for councils if you take out a large community with HT Housing houses and a rate base. We are going down this path, but there are discussions about certain places wanting to be removed from existing shires.
There is also the issue of unincorporated areas. I know we are talking about amendments, but if we are talking about changes to shires how can we leave out unincorporated areas? This was a hot potato for the previous government. In some ways they might be relieved they lost the election because unincorporated areas in the rural area are difficult for government to solve.
Mr McCarthy: I would prefer dealing with that, Gerry, than losing the election.
Mr WOOD: Sorry, that was unkind, member for Barkly. You know what I mean. It is difficult, and some people in the area oppose local government. However, you cannot go on forever leaving a piece of country unincorporated because the rest of us pay for services, even if they are only minor things like roads maintenance. The government has to look at those areas.
I attended some of the meetings. Some were reasonable, some more heated than others, but there is no doubt they were interesting. When talking about changes to local government, you cannot avoid the issue of unincorporated areas.
Minister, I have put forward some amendments because even if I believe it is not the right time for this legislation it will be passed and, with that, passed to the local authorities.
I worked on Aboriginal communities for many reasons. Something which concerned me, especially in one place, was certain people got themselves onto councils and authorities while, many times, others missed out. I always asked, ‘Who represents the lady sitting under the mango tree?’ She is quiet, goes about her own business, and there are other people jockeying for power. That is why I have asked the government to look at electing people. There are reasons, and the minister will tell me them. It might be because they want a representative for the health clinic, or this or that. Perhaps you could have people appointed to a section of it. Out of 14, four people could be appointed and the rest elected. You will find the noisy ones and the astute ones get themselves a paid job. It might only be $114 a meeting, and I do not know how many meetings they will have, but it is a few packets of cigarettes or some extra money. It is not to be sneezed at. If you want something to represent a community, all people should be able to vote for who they want.
You could add something to the act saying the authority can allow people who represent certain interests, perhaps the hospital, to be appointed. If the local authorities are to deal with some of the bigger issues – but what is local government about? It is about roads, the basics, and essential services. You will allow, under this, people from the council to put their hand up.
My amendments allow that but they have to be elected. If you appoint people, nominate people, or allow people to nominate and be appointed, you will not necessarily get the people the community wants. You have no proof because there is no election. You nominate yourself for the local authority, and those nominations go to the regional councils and they pick from the nominations. They might like A, B, C and D, but the communities might like E, F, G and H. The community misses out.
The local authorities are different to local boards because they are paid and take on more responsibility, especially with the budgets. That is in this bill. It is about them having a say in the budget for their community.
It raises the question, minister, why did you change this at all? Why did you not increase the power of local boards? Clause 28 of the bill refers to a new clause 53D dealing with the functions of the local authority. The functions of local boards are nearly the same. Under a local board, A, B, C, D and E are exactly the same as the functions of local authority. You have only added two clauses to make them different:
- (f) to make recommendations to the council in relation to the councils budget …
You could have that for a local board. By the way, it is only a recommendation. And:
- (g) to perform other functions assigned to the local authority by the Minister ...
You could have added that to local boards. You could have used the existing system, retained the shire and still had local boards if you want to change the name, but it did not need too much change. The roles of the board and the local authority are not too different except they have a part to play in setting up the council’s budget.
Minister, I appreciate you have taken on this role as the third person involved in local government, and I appreciate that local government is not an easy issue; it has been difficult for many years. Minister Ah Kit spoke about dysfunctional councils. Not all councils were dysfunctional; there were many good ones. We brought in the sledgehammer and said, ‘Let’s get rid of the lot’. We went to the other extreme of introducing CEOs on high salaries, most of who were from down south. The community had no say in choosing those people. They were set up before there was a council to vote and, therefore, doomed to failure. They were given functions they should not have been given until they were able to show they could do a good job with essential services.
Those areas need reform, the boundaries need reform, the way you can raise revenue needs reform and, obviously, enabling the community to have a greater say needs reforms, which could come with changes to the boundaries.
Madam Speaker, I will not support this bill because it is putting the cart before the horse. If it had come later, perhaps I would. If this had been stage two and we had discussed stage one, which was boundaries and viability, I would say fair enough, but this is the wrong way around. You will put increased burden on councils before we have sorted out those other important issues. The idea of giving more power to the community is a good one, but should be done after we sort out other matters such as the viability of councils and revised boundaries.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I want to share a journey because for me, as a citizen then as a member of parliament, this has been an interesting journey. We have the Taj Mahal of Liberal reform for local government, and it would be great to look at the Parliamentary Record to see what the regional Liberal members said and how they contributed to the debate on the Taj Mahal of local government reform by the Liberals. The regional members seem to be developing a pattern of being handed a piece of paper saying things like, ‘Labor lied’ and ‘Labor did this, Labor did that’. We want to see what is next, and this is the perfect opportunity with such a monumental bill and monumental reform by the Liberals to get it on the public record.
History will tell, and I will be interested to look back to see this as another step in a major journey with, however, a significant detour, on better roads, better infrastructure and more money for everybody from the good old Liberals.
Let us go back a little. I love Territory history. I have really enjoyed my time in the Territory, making the Territory home. I will share with some of the regional members a little about Liberal history and local government. The first thing I remember well is education. I was recruited to the Northern Territory to open the school on Epenarra Station, and I did. Before that, I was very fortunate to spend 12 months in Tennant Creek, and the following year at Brunette Downs. I had a great grounding when I finally convinced the Education department to let me go to Epenarra.
There was nothing there, so I set up camp on the river bank and waited for the contractors to bring Epenarra School, and they did. It was three caravans, which were silver bullets. They were 40 foot Franklins out of Victoria. These had come from Creswell Downs and had done a serious lap in the bush before I got them, so they were very well used. I worked with the contractors in the morning to set them up and worked with the kids on the river bank in the afternoon until we finally got our school together and moved in.
Sitting on that river frontage block looking out over the beautiful Frew River at about 45, with a water bag, I thought one day, ‘Mm, this is an interesting government policy. What is this Liberal government doing?’ They were taking education infrastructure into an area for the Aboriginal community, pulling the wheels off it, setting it up on blocks, and saying, ‘There is your school. But, by jingo, put one foot wrong and we can put the wheels back on and take it back as fast as it arrived.’
It only took two-and-a-half years to arrive, and I am very proud to say Epenarra School now boasts a staff of five teachers, five support staff, and incredible infrastructure thanks to the federal Labor government’s Building the Education Revolution, the most recent investment in education. It is something to be very proud of. I have fond memories and celebrate going to Epenarra to tell those stories. That was an introduction to what the Liberals were doing, and I was part of it.
I then had an interesting journey, and will not bore the House with that. I ended up very close to the action on an education review set up by the Country Liberal Party government called Learning Lessons. It was a major review of Indigenous education. We had a screed of recommendations to implement, and I was at the public sector level where we were preparing Cabinet submissions. That was 25 years down the track, and finally I was at the sharp end of the business and more interested in how Cabinet works, how that end of the business works, as opposed to building footings and foundations with a wild building company out in the bush to set up schools.
In that time I met many senior public servants. Several retired public servants shared some knowledge with me because I was having great difficulty getting these Cabinet submissions through as part of the Learning Lessons review team. We were getting knockbacks, the door was shut, the CLP was broke, the Territory was in a desperate state and they were saying no to everything except cost-neutral initiatives. I will never forget that.
I had some serious plans for Indigenous education and, consequently, a Labor government implemented those recommendations from Learning Lessons over eight years. We will not go there because there are two lines on the other side that tell me it is wrong. It is not, it is right.
The public sector officials advised me I needed a better strategy. If I wanted a good strategy, look at what happened when the first community government council legislation went through the Liberal Cabinet in the Northern Territory. It was knocked back time after time, and the Country Liberal Party government said, ‘No way. We are not doing anything in the bush, not setting up anything, and not funding community government councils.’ The public sector said, ‘You have to do something. It has to be better than caravans. It has to be something substantial, you have to pass this bill. You have to sign off on this Cabinet submission and pass the bill.’ I am cutting a long story short, but my eyes and ears were open and I learnt so much from these senior, retired, public sector officials. They gave me tips to ram through this Cabinet submission, as part of a team, and get the package for major Indigenous reform in the Northern Territory.
I asked, ‘In the end, what brokered the deal?’ To my shock and horror, apparently what brokered the deal was the Liberal minister was told, ‘If you don’t do anything this Aboriginal mob will probably move into town’. To this day, I am still shocked that was the deal breaker. Now it is on the public record after all those years.
From that, I learnt a great deal and today I am able to share some of my learning. The Labor government decided there had to be major reform in local government and shire reform took place. As a citizen in the municipality of Tennant Creek, I took great interest in how that was rolling out. It was major reform; there is no doubt about it.
Not long after that, I was elected to parliament and came in as a member of the government. I watched the opposition and studied hard. An interesting campaign developed by the CLP opposition and now set in stone was the toxic shire campaign. The architects were the member for Braitling, now the Chief Minister, and the member for Fong Lim I am sure – as the most experienced politician here – supported it. Senator Nigel Scullion must have been in on that deal. Then the member for Namatjira came along to complete the scrum and drive into the Territory the toxic shire campaign strategy.
As it rolled out in this House the media picked up on it and the member for Braitling was up just about every night during sittings dropping radio grabs and making the news. He certainly made the news today, by the way. That was a good one on his rsum. He was a regular.
I was listening to this then going home to the Barkly and talking to shire personnel and community people saying, ‘You have to understand the politics behind this. You have to realise what is going on. There are some fundamental issues we are working with. We have to work together.’ I continued to have conversations, show my support and try to rationalise what was a hard-hitting political strategy. It really hit because it started to filter down at a community level. The strategy rolled out into the 2012 election campaign and people bought it.
Today we see the next step in that journey which is, ‘We made promises, got the story out and convinced you we are better than them, so today we have it. Here is the next step in the journey.’
One of the reasons I am still here and not teaching is when confronted with the negative and venomous attack of, ‘Labor lied, we have been disempowered, lost our voice, blah, blah, blah’, I would get people together. I had an advantage as I grew many of them up and grew my family up with them. To all the people in the bush who I have known for a long time I would say, ‘Gather around, we will have a debate’. When they would hit me with that rhetoric, which was a great strategy because it was filtering right down to the bush, I would say, ‘Okay, I get that. Put your hand up if you went to work today or did work today.’ When the heads dropped I would hit them with, ‘There’s a lot of rubbish here. It’s really difficult to get the rubbish to the tip if nobody turns up to work to drive the truck.’ They would say, ‘Kumadjai, we don’t want to hear that’. ‘You will hear that from me.’
I am honoured to be re-elected because I was certainly under fire. That strategy, which we are continually reminded of – Aboriginal people said you guys are out and we are in, you guys are bad and we are good – I was part of that and had to work hard to rationalise it. The work I did over four years to confront the toxic shire campaign strategy of the Liberals must have had an impact. Even on polling day, in some of the bush polling places I was still debating how important it is to get up in the morning and be involved, share in the work, the outcomes, and the celebration of community. It is not about listening to the powerful psychology of how downtrodden you are therefore down tools, sit down, and somebody will come along and save you. That will never work, and I continued to counter that.
However, some of my colleagues were not as fortunate and government changed. In this business, I was asked by a very experienced politician ‘Where is the duty statement? Where is the job description? Do you get any holidays? Listen mate, you don’t have to worry. As a politician you have to remember two things: do not make promises you can’t keep, and buy lots of raffle tickets.’ I started to understand it is about promises you cannot keep. The toxic shire campaign strategy turned into a reality for the Liberals, no doubt led by the regional Liberal members. That strategy now has to translate into major legislative reform, and today we will see passage of a legislative instrument.
My colleague, the member for Nhulunbuy, has done a lot of work in the Caucus, much research, kept us informed, and presented us with many papers to keep us in the loop with this legislation.
The member for Nelson, a champion in the local government area, has also informed the House on the deficits in this legislative instrument and the reason he cannot support it. I am looking forward to being convinced by the regional members of the Country Liberal Party that we should support it.
Having said that, it really has missed the target and the advice is pragmatic: take it back to the drawing board. We have been waiting a long time, but this is your major reform package, the real deal. This will change outcomes in the bush. Remember, it is all about outcomes.
I have to throw in some politics. Let us look at the structure of how the Liberal journey started. First, Chief Minister Hon Terry Mills handed the job to the member for Braitling, Adam Giles, who created the strategy. He dealt with it and his rhetoric was around consultation. I took a lot of interest in consultation. I met some really hard-working public sector officials conducting the consultations, even at festivals and alternative venues, which I congratulate the department on. The next player was the member for Namatjira.
In the public arena the discussion was, ‘Is this celebrated local government reform and major reform for the bush, or is it a poisoned chalice being handed around and something too hot to be touched?’ The member for Braitling was the architect and should have stayed with it because that was where the ideas came from and the responsibility to deliver. However, the member for Namatjira got her fingerprints on it.
I will share a dot point on her rsum in quoting from an interview with Alison Anderson on Radio Alice with Eli Melky and others on 10 September 2013 about being dumped from Cabinet and the federal job offer. Melky said:
- There were over 35 or 36 remote polling booths that came in and I think the Country Liberals won only around two of them. Really, how do you explain that? I know you have just sort of mentioned that you need to do more, but how would you explain such a huge swing? Who could have so much influence on so many people in the bush?
The member for Namatjira, Hon Alison Anderson replied:
- Look, Aboriginal people want little things done. I can tell you something, my people are the cheapest voters. They are not looking for $20m or even $10m, they just want 10 grand, five grand here, the $2500 for their sports weekend and you will have them for life and I think we have done that. We have not done that well, and I think a classic example was a story in the Advocate that was written about Congress giving Yuendumu sports weekend $3000 and it swung for Labor, just on $3000. Like I said, my people are the cheapest voters.
That was the minister at the time with carriage of this major reform, and I found it shocking. I found it to be incredibly disturbing for an elected community leader. You have to put it into perspective – Eli Melky, Radio Alice, and a hyperactive member for Namatjira – and it all came together. It reflects the values around the CLP and this reform.
It was then handed to the biggest hitter in the team, the member for Fong Lim. The rumour mill went wild when that happened. In the Barkly, the political pundits put a lot of energy into discussion around that. I said from day one in this House, ‘Don’t underestimate that bloke. He had six years in the federal parliament and is a big hitter. We will see some action.’ By the way, I tell my constituents he is the Treasurer and has his finger on the pulse. One if the first people I made good friends with when becoming an MLA was the Treasurer. I went out of my way to ensure I had a strong professional relationship with the Treasurer.
The Treasurer now has carriage of this. Let us say we got rid of the architect, the guy who could only put toxicity into it, we got rid of the member for Namatjira, who did not have the backbone for it, and now we have the Treasurer. I am disappointed in the legislative instrument. One could say the Treasurer is a little bored with it and wants to move on. However, this is too big and too dangerous for the Liberals. It was too big and too dangerous for Labor, so we are told.
Member for Braitling now Chief Minister, with that very successful strategy you created expectations. The expectations in the bush were huge around the psychology, ‘If we vote for these people they will crash this shire reform and we will go back to the good old days’. There are people in the Barkly electorate who believe they will see the return of graders, trucks, low loaders and backhoes, there will be cheque books in the glove box to run these machines, and it will be like the good old days of community government councils. They believe it because that strategy was so powerful. Those expectations are there, and when you make big promises, you have to deliver big. This legislation is not doing that.
My colleague, the member for Nhulunbuy, has clearly outlined the opposition’s points of why this bill fails. The member for Nelson said it needs to go back to the drawing board, and I agree with that. Working together, we could probably strengthen this. If you subtract the member for Braitling and the toxic shire campaign strategy, look at the shire reform the previous Labor government was implementing, then we can get it right and take it to the next stage. We all agree on one thing: we cannot go back to regional government councils, and we have to move forward to ensure the guys on the rubbish truck get up in the morning and go to work so the rubbish is cleared. We can then start to build the rest of the picture.
One thing we can do, which is being debated today, is empower people at a local level. We had local boards, which have had a name change to local authorities. We said the concept is good, the Liberals say the concept is good; however, we on this side of the House do not believe you guys have it entirely right.
Minister, around the Caucus table in a Labor camp I was one of the exponents of budgets for local boards. People were telling me they wanted a budget to do local things, to do the smaller scale projects in the communities. They wanted to know that if there were potholes at the end of the street, something could be done immediately. They felt that was a good level to start at. They wanted decision-making; they wanted to be part of the process. They also wanted to have their hands on some dollars, and we looked at that in our reform.
The toxic shire campaign strategy spoke about boundary changes, which set up huge expectations. When the now Chief Minister, the architect of the strategy, talks about cultural authority, he really bought into cultural authority. When the Aboriginal people I have lived and worked with for over 35 years talk, they talk about possible breakups on cultural authority which reflects tribal boundaries. That expectation came from a man from the Blue Mountains, but it was powerful psychology. It has reverberated right through the bush, and people are talking about boundary breakups and what they will control and what they will have to look after. I am unsure if that got out there in the consultation process, because there are areas in the Barkly still talking like that.
The other area of the reform Labor was insistent on was implementing the remedial financial sustainability actions outlined in the Deloitte report. It is so important to work on that area. The previous minister for Construction and Infrastructure was working closely with the department on ways to get a cash flow working through remote communities and towns for the work performed by the public sector. That seems to be lost in this government’s agenda. It seems to have turned around in the tendering processes we are looking at proposed by the Liberals.
We were working on that to value-add to financial sustainability, as well as offering training to employment and outcomes. That is an important area of this debate, and financial sustainability cannot be lost. I was interested to hear the member for Nelson speak about add-on layers of costs which have not been planned for. I have learnt a lot in this House, and learnt a lot from the opposition. One thing in any debate around legislation or committee stage amendments was always justification of where the finances were coming from. If there are gaps it is not good legislation because you will create problems down the track. It has to be watertight.
Let us face it, in the monumental change by the Liberals in local government and the glory days of the bush ahead of us, you really want to ensure it is tight.
We have more debate to follow. There is an opportunity to take this back to the drawing board, and as you have heard from our representative, the member for Nhulunbuy, there cannot be support for poor legislation resulting from pragmatic issues around poor consultation of major reforms – essentially, broken promises. I do not need to tell the minister how important that is and how people in the community are very cognisant of politicians breaking their promises. The Country Liberals have been badged with the clich, ‘What they say and what they do are two different things’ and it is reverberating through the community. I am not one for toxic campaign strategies, but if ‘this mob say one thing and do the other’ comes up in conversation I jump on that debate.
Legislation reflecting half-truths and broken promises has no place in this House. I have written a note for myself as a master teacher: I give you a resubmit not a fail. It has taken some time to get this far, so what is a little more time in this House? The full review into financial sustainability and viability of regional local government in the Northern Territory is due early in 2014. Once again another promise, but as the member for Nelson highlighted, it is putting the cart before the horse. Let us see the detail of an important aspect of this legislation before it completes its passage through the House.
There is no definition around the boundary changes. I need to explain that to my constituents. As I said to the member for Braitling, he has gone into interesting anthropological areas, some of which he is probably not aware of. However, should he want to take a trip through the Barkly, I will introduce him to people who will share with him the same education they shared with me over many years. Without that clear definition about boundary changes I do not see how this legislation can pass today.
Labor’s review and reform was planned. It had a process, objectives and outcomes, and was part of what would have been the fourth term. However, that did not take place so, unfortunately, I am not on that side telling you how watertight we had it and where we were going with it. You guys are telling us. We do not see it is a complete body of work and, as I said, I give you a resubmit.
Mr TOLLNER (Local Government and Regions): Madam Speaker, I should correct the record. I might not necessarily be the minister in closing, I might well be standing as member for Fong Lim speaking on the bill, which would give me 45 minutes to speak, and I could ask for an extension of 10 minutes. I could then sit down and stand up to close discussion, which would give me another 30 minutes. I could ask for an extension of 10 minutes there, giving me a total of 105 five minutes speaking time.
An interesting quirk of circumstances, but I know how keen everyone is to get on with this. I promise I will not speak for 105 minutes, but I would like to say a few things.
Firstly, I thank all members who have spoken in this debate. I found this debate extraordinarily interesting. The member for Nhulunbuy is always interesting. At times, I think the member for Nhulunbuy lives in a parallel universe, but perhaps that is the way things are in Nhulunbuy. It really was a rambling rant in some regards, but there were some interesting anecdotes.
It is fair to say the member for Nelson is probably the most experienced person in local government in this Chamber. That does not necessarily make him the smartest person on local government, but he certainly has something to contribute and is always interesting to listen to.
What can I say about the member for Barkly? I class the member for Barkly as not a close friend, but someone I am friendly with. I enjoy the banter he provides and he is a fabulous human being. Mind you, in all the time he spent in the bush he should have worn a hat. Some would say he was tetched by the sun. I do not agree with pretty well all the arguments he presents, but that does not take away from the fact he is a good bloke in some regards.
In 2012, the newly elected Country Liberal government committed to remote residents that we would consult directly with them to better understand their concerns and to examine the best means of improving the local government structures and service delivery. A critical issue raised during the election campaign was that people in remote communities felt they had lost control of their local government councils, which were perceived to be unresponsive. This was described by people in our regional and remote communities as having lost their voice. An important point missed in this debate is people in those communities felt they had lost their voice. In regional and remote areas the relevance of local government is much higher than in urban communities such as Darwin.
I had a chat with people on the Alice Springs council and they said, ‘Dave, you do not seem to understand how important council is to us in Alice Springs. All the work of government takes place in the Top End of the Territory. Our real voice, the things we are most concerned about, is local government because that really gives us our say.’ For people in remote communities that is even more important.
I do not argue this, but an argument could be mounted that local government in Darwin and Palmerston could almost be perceived as irrelevant. The reason is the great interaction people in our communities have with their local Territory government member. Almost every weekend there is not an electorate in the northern suburbs, Nelson, or Palmerston where the local member is not out knocking on doors, attending barbecues or going to school council meetings.
Most people in the Darwin region have a very close affinity with their local member. It is an old saying in Territory politics that you have to know your local people, you have to know everybody who lives in your community, you have to know the name of the person’s husband, wife, children, dog, parrot, what type of roses they grow in their garden and all of that type of thing. You have a very close relationship with people in the community from a Territory government level.
I appreciate the member for Barkly thinks it is great I have been in the federal parliament and now I am the Deputy Chief Minister, but at times we can get ahead of ourselves and get lost in our own self-importance. Ultimately, what people most want is interaction with their representatives and to feel they have a connection with their representatives. It does not matter where you live in the Northern Territory, everyone will tell you Canberra is out of touch. Why? We have two federal members and two senators. That is four people in the entire area, and the chance of those people having a direct personal relationship with an entire Territory community is impossible. In the Territory government, certainly in the Top End, people have that personal connection.
However, getting out to the remote regions of the Territory becomes more difficult because of the vastness of the area people have to cover. Their real connection to government is local government and that is where they feel they are represented. That is where they feel their voice is most heard.
I disagree with the member for Nelson when he says local government is not about culture. In some regard it is about the culture of being able to talk to your local representative. That has been disregarded in this debate.
Another great compliment was the member for Barkly saying the former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, our current Chief Minister, Adam Giles, me, and the member for Namatjira concocted this wonderful plan, brainwashed everybody in remote areas, and ran this fabulous marketing campaign which saw several seats lost. Thanks for the compliment, member for Barkly, but that is not the case. Our leader at the time, Terry Mills, was a visionary …
Ms Anderson: He was making out Aboriginal people are dumb.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, clearly, that is the intent. I am sure our previous Chief Minister, Terry Mills, would also like some of the credit. Our previous Chief Minister, Terry Mills, was listening. It was not about him devising a cunning plan where we could steal government off people in the bush, it was Terry Mills, Adam Giles, the member for Namatjira and others listening to remote communities and understanding the issues. They understood people were frustrated at not having their voice heard because, to them, that was their greatest issue. They did not think there was anybody in a position of authority anywhere they had a personal connection with.
Taking away what they felt was a real connection with local government is what was so toxic. Members on the other side hate hearing the word ‘toxic’, but ask Karl Hampton, Barb McCarthy, Rob Knight, and Marion Scrymgour whether that legislation was toxic. Clearly it was politically toxic and they paid the price because they were not listening to their communities. I thought we had the member for Barkly on toast, but in the dying weeks of the campaign he got the message and was out there. We received feedback he was everywhere. We really put the wind up him and he got out there and held on, and all credit to him. Much of that goes to his history in those communities as well, because he spent …
Mr McCarthy: The last 35 years.
Mr TOLLNER: As he said, the last 35 years in those communities. People knew him, had engagement with him, and this is what it comes back to. The issue of people having lost their voice is fundamental to what we are about.
The reforms in this bill follow extensive consultations with the bush and have not been dreamed up overnight. A Regional Governance Working Group was formed in November 2012, consisting of leaders from remote communities, elected local government councillors, representatives of Aboriginal land councils, industry representatives and a representative from Desert Knowledge Australia. The group was chaired by Alice Springs Mayor, Damien Ryan, who is also President of the Local Government Association. I give my thanks to that group for their dedication to considering the options.
I thank the member for Barkly for letting us know how hard that group worked because they were everywhere. They were at fetes and community meetings all over the place. There were 177 community visits, 279 meetings, and 32 written submissions, a fantastic job. I also thank local members in our remote electorates for driving the issue, getting involved in some of the consultations, and taking the bull by the horns and listening to what people in communities had to say.
Madam Speaker, the Local Government Amendment Bill has much to recommend it as an example of this government listening to Territorians residing in regional and remote areas and ensuring local governance arrangements in those areas are strengthened. Consultation on the draft bill and guidelines was genuine. When local people said they wanted to choose their own chair, we changed the amendments. Whilst the member for Nhulunbuy sees that as a negative, we, and most people, say, ‘At least you are listening’. I am interested in the committee stage. I have some opinions on the member for Nelson’s amendments, but we will discuss them when they come up.
When the shire councils said they could not get the authorities up and running during the cultural ceremony season, we said the regional council would have until July 2014 to get local authorities established. We took the initial three sets of draft guidelines and refined them to a single set, better reflecting the practicalities of involving local community members in local government decision-making and communication. There is that word again, ‘communication’.
There is great support for these changes. As one community member explained, ‘In the early days it felt like the shire could hide the money story from the community. That will definitely not happen now.’
The proposed amendments will give regional and remote communities back their voice in local governance matters. It is that voice they want. The previous government took away the voice of the people who elected them as representatives and has still not woken up to that fact. It took away what people perceived as their only opportunity to talk with people in authority, their representatives.
We have the task of restoring and strengthening their voice, and this bill is the first part of that process. Local authorities will bring revitalisation and put the word ‘local’ back into local government. Local authority members can expect respect, not only for themselves, but for their contribution to council decisions. Regional councils will respect local authorities by keeping them informed and involving them in decision-making.
We value the opinion of people living in communities and this bill is evidence of that. Local authorities will have an active role in council decision-making, including planning and budget decisions.
We have listened to people during the consultations; we have changed the original bill so a local authority can appoint its own chair. We have also recognised that local people, via their councils, need the power to determine the area of a local authority.
The member for Nhulunbuy believes this is a bad thing. I stress, this is where the previous government went wrong; they failed to listen and heed the fact people wanted a voice. We are grateful to the many people across the Territory who took the time to be involved in the consultations and share their thoughts.
The bill also shows the government is listening to councils. The bill abolishes regional management plans currently provided for in the act. Councils advise regional management plans were cumbersome, did not provide any measurable gain and, in general, did not achieve their objectives. We are about cutting red tape and letting people get on with the job, a core philosophy of this government.
This government is committed to ensuring there are strong and productive working relationships among traditional owners, landholders, community special interest groups, industries, land councils, and local government.
This is a new way of doing local government, and it is evolving through constant interaction with people in the bush. I am not suggesting this bill is the be-all and end-all of local government; there is still plenty of work to be done. However, it sets a foundation for change. It provides maximum flexibility for individual community members to have their say. This is stage one. In stage two we will look at boundaries. Issues have been raised about revenue to services. As a government, we understand this will cost somewhat more. We have increased the Local Government budget by 25%, taking it from $20m to $25m. We have also provided for an additional $2m to help with the transitional arrangement. Of course, numerous consultations will be undertaken in relation to the services these regional councils and local authorities will want and expect to provide.
We are trying to maintain maximum flexibility. What works in one community might not be appropriate for another community. What gets people onto local authorities in one community might not be the way to go in other communities. We want to maintain flexibility because we want to listen to communities and ultimately do what people want us to.
I put to the Chamber the bill goes a long way in reversing the damage done by the previous government to Territorians in regional and remote communities. That damage was mainly about taking away their voice or their perception that they had a say. My view is that local government is relevant to many people living in the bush or remote communities because it is a real interaction they have with their representatives and people in authority.
I am also interested in continuing the discussion around governance in communities and about the services provided. I should have said at the outset that I am proud to be the Local Government minister. I recognise there are challenges and people call it the poisoned chalice. I was quite stunned when we were elected and I was appointed Health minister. In the fullness of time, I can say to the previous Chief Minister I was thrilled to get that job. People said it was a poisoned chalice; there are dead bodies everywhere around the Health portfolio. I found it a surprisingly good challenge.
I believe local government will be the same and I look forward to the opportunities. I am proud to have charge of this portfolio. I thank the Chief Minister for the work he put in to develop it – as the member for Barkly said, the architect. I also thank the member for Namatjira who did a sterling job as the minister in this portfolio as well.
Madam Speaker, I recommend this bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Mr CHAIR: The committee has before it the Local Government Amendment Bill 2013 (Serial 35), together with Schedule of Amendments No 7 circulated by the Minister for Local Government and Regions, and Schedule of Amendments No 8 circulated by the member for Nelson.
Clauses 1 to 27, by leave, taken together.
Mr WOOD: I need clarification here. Can we deal with some of the broader issues first?
Mr CHAIR: Yes, fine.
Mr WOOD: Minister, I will move to some general topics I would like an answer to. One is financing of the boards because that is not in the bill, it is in the guidelines. I have to ask now otherwise there is no place for it. Minister, did the government cost running the new local authorities not only for the amount of money paid out for sitting fees, but also the cost of establishment and the administrative back-up needed?
Mr TOLLNER: We have allowed additional funding for those measures. However, there is a lot of flexibility and, as Treasurer, I realise this. Talking about local authorities, I heard your contribution, ‘There are so many local authorities, so many members – 10, 14 or so’. It might not have been you, member for Nelson, it might have been the member for Barkly, but assumptions are made there.
Not every community will necessarily want a local authority and not every local authority will have 10 to 14 members. There has to be flexibility. I believe we have adequately funded it to date; however, realise there needs to be some flexibility in the funding arrangements because you are really asking how long is a piece of string, if you understand my point. Each region and each local authority will have different views on the number of people required on their local authority and whether they want one.
Mr WOOD: Minister, any good government when it puts out a bill looks at the possible cost ramifications. You have said, more or less, the government will pay for the cost of local authorities. Have you set aside an annual amount of money to be provided for councils to pay people for sitting fees and other matters?
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, member for Nelson. We assumed there would be 70 local authorities with an average of 10 members per local authority. These are the assumptions we have made, and they may vary in the wash-up of how communities want their local authorities to operate. We have assumed there will be eight paid meetings per annum per local authority. That makes a total of 560 local authority meetings per year at $114 per member per meeting allowance, administrative support at $100 per meeting day, and council staff support to each local authority meeting taking approximately four days per meeting at $300 per day.
That adds up to $1.4m over a 12-month period. Do you want to break that $1.4m up based on regions? I have the figures per region – Barkly, Central Desert, East Arnhem and the like. I will table it and we can get some copies made. It is quite extensive information.
Mr WOOD: Minister, you said you do not know whether all local authorities will exist. Several questions back you gave me the impression that if a council does not want a local authority to happen it will not. The guidelines you have set out say:
- A regional council must establish and maintain a local authority at the towns and communities listed in the Schedule which are within the regional area.
Are you saying that councils have the power not to set up a local authority?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, as I said in my closing remarks, built into this is maximum flexibility. We made a range of assumptions and put out guidelines on those assumptions. However, we can change the guidelines at any time. We are more than willing to change them because we are most interested in hearing from local people and communities. Where there is a good reason why people do not want a local authority, we will take that into account and try to act on the wishes of that community. Similarly, if there is a community not listed as having a local authority and is desperate to have one, we will assess that and try to meet the needs of that community.
The whole idea is, at least initially, we maintain maximum flexibility. We have put out some projections on assumptions, but they are flexible and things may well change into the future as a result of consultations and the expressed desires of people in communities.
Mr WOOD: The member for Nhulunbuy wants to ask a question but I want to keep on that line for a minute. Do not get me wrong, minister, the idea of local authorities is good, it is just putting the cart before the horse. My concern is the government will now have to find $1.4m to fund local authorities. If I were to ask you – I would tell Litchfield Council – the library was funded for three years and then the money was gone.
My concern is the councils are not viable, and I am not the only one who believes that. People smarter than me, such as those at Deloitte, are saying that. We have not looked at viability, which is one reason I have problems with this bill. For what period can you guarantee local government this funding will continue? If you are to fund it for two years then they are on your own, that immediately throws a big budget cost back on a council that is not viable. Will the government guarantee funds for the next five years, or until there is a proper review of local government funding so they are not burdened with something which might sound a good idea but could be a burden on councils? As the member for Barkly said, that money could have been used for basic infrastructure.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, good question, member for Nelson. To be totally blunt, there are no guarantees. There are few guarantees of anything in this life apart from death and taxes, as they say. However, the lesson learnt from the last election is we need to ensure peoples’ voices are being heard and, in order to do that, it will cost us money.
In relation to the viability of local government across the Northern Territory, much work needs to be done in that area and hard decisions need to be made. Generally, if you look at an urban township, councils can collect rates and raise revenue on a range of areas, whereas remote councils currently have very little revenue-raising capacity. We are interested in changing that. We want this model of local government to work and be self-sustaining in many ways. I understand that will take time and much more consultation and discussion, not just with people on the ground, but people in Canberra who also have a stake in regional councils and funding. There is work to be done in that area.
I assure you this is one of those critical areas where we know we have made commitments. We want to see this local government model work and will put the resources in to ensure it does. At this point in time we have made some assumptions. They may be wildly wrong, but there is a lot of work to be done. We are looking down the barrel of a $5.5bn Labor debt and money is tight but, as my good friend General Cosgrove once said to me, ‘Mate, freedom does not come for free’. These things cost money and if people want to have a voice and live in a democracy we have to allocate the resources to keep those services and that democracy working.
Ms WALKER: Minister, you spoke about the costs of local authorities based on certain assumptions – an average of 10 members across 70 local authorities having X number of meetings a year – and you arrived at a figure of $1.4m per annum. Does that figure include expenses associated with section 72?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, we have factored that into our calculations but the expectation is that expenses will be kept to a minimum because these are local authorities and people will be living in the local area. Unlike, for instance, our Business Advisory Council where we have to fly people in from all over the Northern Territory and the expenses of getting to meetings massively outweigh the cost of meeting fees. In this case, the view is the amount paid to a member will be the lion’s share of the requirements of funding in these areas.
Ms WALKER: Minister, section 72 of the Local Government Act states:
- … are entitled to payment or reimbursement of reasonable expenses for travel and accommodation ...
During the Wet Season a meeting might be held and a member of the local authority lives on an outstation in the Top End. Whilst the distance might not be too far, the reality is the only way they can attend that meeting is to charter a plane. Would that be regarded as a reasonable expense?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, these decisions need to be taken with the cost involved in mind. We looked at a range of things in the consultations about when we do things. We did not do them during ceremony season. A range of idiosyncrasies in each community will impact on meeting times, and one would expect locals would understand the climatic conditions, the ceremonial requirements, and the cultural issues of their region and not schedule meetings when they cannot arrive at them.
These are local authorities manned by local people, and travelling and accommodation expenses should be kept at a minimum. In the main, those local people will live in the community, will not require accommodation expenses and should not necessarily have travelling expenses.
Ms WALKER: That is all very well, minister, but the reality is some communities are structured in a way that they are not all physically in that community. Cultural connection to homelands or outstations is a real factor, and there may be elected members in authority who live in a homeland and in Top End Wet Season weather roads are impassable and they would have no choice but to fly.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, I take your point, but we do not want to be sitting at the top saying, ‘Do this and that, we will fund this and that’. We will give a global budget to a regional council and it will have responsibility to set the policy around spending that money. Ultimately, you would expect them to have a lot of input into how local authorities meet, when they meet, where they meet, and the cost of those meetings.
Ms WALKER: Minister, I had a further question. The guidelines state six to eight meetings a year, is that correct?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, perhaps you did not receive it, but I tabled a funding of regional council and local authority briefing which I received. I can read it straight off there, but it has not come around yet …
Mr WOOD: I do not think they have collected it.
Mr TOLLNER: It is being copied and will come around. These are assumptions so things may change, but there would be 70 local authorities, 10 members per local authority, they would have eight paid meetings per year, a total of 560 local authority meetings per year, $114 per member meeting allowance, administrative support at $100 per meeting day, and council support staff to each local authority meeting taking approximately four days per meeting at $300 a day.
Ms WALKER: Minister, my question was whether it was six or eight meetings a year. I gave the example during my contribution to debate earlier today following a discussion I had with a representative of MacDonnell Shire, who is quite adamant they can do their business as a local board or authority over three meetings a year. Does anything prevent them from sticking to three meetings a year, or must they have the minimum six?
Mr TOLLNER: No, member for Nhulunbuy, we are trying to have maximum flexibility in this system. If they want to meet once a year, that is fine; if they want to meet 30 times a year, that is fine, depending on the resources of their council. Obviously we are not imposing that. Not every local authority will want to have 10 members; some might be happy with five or six. Others might want to have a much larger group. However, these are important decisions that local communities make in consultation with their councils, because their thinking is only limited by the dollars the councils are prepared to spend on them. If they only want three meetings a year, that is fine with this government.
Ms WALKER: Minister, if that were the case with the MacDonnell Shire and they thought they would only meet twice a year – I doubt they would – can they bank the savings and fix the three pools and have them operating for the summer?
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely. Our position is to allow maximum flexibility for councils and authorities to operate the best way they can to ensure people in local communities have a voice and input into decision-making and get the best bang for buck with the limited resources they have.
Ms WALKER: Minister, on the strength of that, my concern would be they may trade off their opportunity to have that strong local voice by meeting the shortfall in operational funds for ageing infrastructure. I am not sure that is the best outcome for strengthening local voices in local communities.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, these are decisions we all make every day. I would like to be driving around in a Ferrari. Due to limited resources, I cannot. I have to make an assessment and use my judgment. One would expect councils and authorities would use their judgment and make an assessment.
As I said in response to the member for Nelson, we have put some guidelines out, but we are more than happy to change guidelines to allow maximum flexibility in the system and allow local people to have their say and determine what is best for their future and that of their community.
Mr WOOD: To clarify that, in the draft guidelines:
- 8.3 … the CEO must ensure there is a minimum of six meetings for each local authority in each calendar year.
Are you considering changing that?
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely. If a community says they can do their business adequately over three meetings we are more than happy to change the guidelines in that regard. What is most important to us, member for Nelson, and what we are anxious to see occur, is local people feel they are getting a say. That is the main thrust of this.
We could bang on about how important it is we turn up here for six months of the year, but is that the best use of taxpayers’ money? We seem to do our work in around 35 days of sittings every year, and it costs a great deal to run. The Chief Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of Government Business and others have to judge the best use of our time in this place. It will be exactly the same with local government.
Mr WOOD: Is there not an anomaly? I understand where you are coming from, but you do not tell councils that. You say they must have a minimum number of meetings per year so you do not give them flexibility. These are, to some extent, pseudo councils there to represent people in that area.
I am not against what you are trying to do. When you replied you gave the impression we are anti, but it was concerns about the cost and about changes before this came into place.
Is there not an inconsistency? On one hand you say councils must have one meeting every two months – there is a section on council meetings and I thought there were a minimum number of meetings required per year. Then you say to local advisory authorities if they want none, theoretically, they could have none. That sends out the wrong message. It does not run well if you tell a council to have so many meetings, then you tell local authorities they can have as many as they like, or none. It does not seem consistent.
Mr TOLLNER: I apologise if that is the case, because the desire is to appear consistent, flexible, and try to do as much as we can to meet the needs of the community. I will give you an example. The member for Daly might not be too happy if I said we would set up a local authority at Dundee, require 15 people from Dundee to sit on it, and it is required to meet six times a year. This caused a lot of grief for the previous member for Daly, and others, from a community that does not want a bar of local government.
Our desire is to meet the requirements of local people and best assist them by giving a voice to them. If they determine they do not want a local authority in their area, as a government we will not impose one. As I said, if the guidelines preclude it we will change them. If a good case is made for an area to have a local authority which does not have one earmarked, we would like that area looked after. Ultimately, it will depend on the resources of the council whether they can fund those things.
There have to be limitations, but within those limitations we want to maintain as much flexibility as possible, meaning the guidelines can be varied at any time. The message I would like to get out, and the one the previous minister was getting out, is we want maximum flexibility in this system so we can deliver what communities most want in their unique circumstances.
Mr WOOD: I guess the issue is whether people, knowing they will be paid, will just have meetings because they only have to be there for an hour and will be paid. That is the other side of the equation.
On the document you gave us about funding regional councils and local authorities, you say the government is increasing the annual operational subsidy by $5m per annum. Was that done before you had a view on funding local authorities?
Mr TOLLNER: The previous minister did a fantastic job and made a range of assumptions, and that is where we are at this point in time. The previous minister had to go through a Budget Cabinet process because we knew that later in the year we would be progressing local government reforms and had to allocate money to it.
These assumptions were made, as we make assumptions everywhere across the budget. Sometimes, those assumptions do not cost as much money, other times we make assumptions and discover they are wildly wrong and we pay a fortune. I am sure the member for Barkly would attest to that when they bought the AMS system. I doubt they expected the asset management system to cost anywhere near what it will. They assessed it would cost probably 5% of what it is currently costing. Things change.
The previous minister made a good assessment, and we have made some good assumptions and will not be wildly off the mark. However, there is flexibility in this area because we understand things may not pan out exactly how we imagined.
Mr WOOD: The paper you gave us mentions Closing the Gap funding. I am unsure what that allocation was for. If you are saying funding of local authorities could be supported by the $2m grant pool, what misses out if local authorities dip into the $2m from Closing the Gap? What was that money originally intended for? Was it specific or is this where they could get funding from? It is on the back of that?
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, I understand what you are talking about. Member for Nelson, these decisions always have to be made. If you take money from somewhere, something will lose funding. There is not, as the previous Treasurer thought, a magic pudding which keeps giving. You have a finite amount of money. It is wrong to load yourself up in debt and pass all that debt to the next generation and the one after that. We are seeing the fruits of that now, having inherited what we have.
Closing the Gap is, in the main, about trying to bring up to an even field a range of different statistics around Indigenous people: health outcomes, educational outcomes, life expectancy, and all those issues. Clearly, local government has to be part of that in many remote areas of the Northern Territory because it is the only governance structure in many communities and we want it involved. It is only fitting the federal government looks at local government and acknowledges its role in Closing the Gap.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is my concern. The Barkly Shire talks about problems if you decrease its funding. If it has to run advisory councils it decreases the amount of money it has for something else. If the government can guarantee funding will last at least until we sort out viability of the councils, I would feel much more positive about what you are doing. Barkly is the biggest council and says if there is not ongoing funding for this project it will lose out and be less viable. That is what I am trying to emphasise now. That is all the questions I have on that area.
I wanted to talk about the name. I do not know if I can go through a specific part of the legislation in relation to that or just talk about it in general while we are here.
I have not heard a good reason why we cannot keep the shires and change the local boards to local authorities. Councils would not have to rebrand and names would remain the same. It seems someone has plucked this name out from somewhere. When you were in opposition the shadow minister started talking about regional councils. I have no idea where it has come from, but it seems to be an additional cost councils do not need. All you had to do was upgrade the local boards to local authorities and put the things in this legislation under that.
What is the logic behind the change?
Mr TOLLNER: I had my eyes opened a few months ago wearing my Treasury hat when we were looking at setting up a Budget Review Committee. I suggested we call it the Expenditure Review Committee and everybody went into conniptions. I had forgotten that 15 years ago the Expenditure Review Committee slashed the budgets of a number of public services. Everyone remembers it. It does not matter that every state government, and the federal government, has an Expenditure Review Committee, we cannot have one here because of the bad memories it conjures.
The difference between shire councils and regional councils is somewhat a perception. Regional councils are a fresh start. There is a bigger difference to it. Regional councils will invigorate regional and remote communities by being clearly distinct from shire councils in having effective local authorities.
People will not warm to the large shire councils staying the same. Both the councils and the communities need a fresh approach, a new name, a new commitment to be inclusive, to communicate, to listen and respond. If you think the shire councils have achieved inclusion and effective communication between councils and communities, I suggest you are wrong.
Some councils have been trying hard, but we need to change. We are continuing to consult and are always willing to listen to people. Some places may want more change and we will listen to them. We are not saying this is the one and only change, this is a foundation for change. We built maximum flexibility into this expecting change. This is an evolving policy rather than something set in concrete. These are not our ideas; we are being driven, largely, by the wishes of local communities.
Yes, the guidelines give me power around providing flexibility. Guidelines are not a new thing. Guidelines from the previous government already exist, some much longer and more comprehensive than these on things such as allowances for council members, appointing a CEO, investments, borrowings, and disposal of property. The guidelines for investments made by the previous government are 35 pages long. The content of the draft guidelines has been a matter of full consultation. No one has said they do not want guidelines. Guidelines are an accepted way to elaborate and further explain matters under the Local Government Act, but the guidelines we have are designed to be flexible. If areas need change we will assess and change them.
Regarding you question about changing the name, it is as much about perception as anything else. We want people to relate to their local government people much better. Using the word ‘shires’, people have made an assessment the shires are toxic, they cut out their voices, and sticking with that name in some of locations would have made it extremely difficult to achieve the change we need.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister, for that explanation. It gives it some logic because until now it has just been a name change. That is the first time I have heard why the name has been changed. I accept there are some valid points in what you say.
You say in the guidelines there will be flexibility, and there is a section in the act about whether you can determine if a local government is a municipality – a dreadful word – it ain’t, pardon me, a council. That is why we have a council at Litchfield called Litchfield Council. It could be the school council or the local horse riding council …
Mr TOLLNER: It probably was when you were there.
Mr WOOD: We had a few cars in that area – it talks about determining whether a local government area is a municipality, a region or a shire. You said you want maximum flexibility in the guidelines. What happens if the shire says, ‘We want to stay as we are’? Does it have that right, or has it been determined that a shire shall be, regardless of what they think, a region?
Mr TOLLNER: You are throwing them out of left field, member for Nelson. Essentially, there is no reason why we could not change the guidelines to allow shire councils to keep their names as shire councils. However, as I said earlier, keeping the name ‘shire’ makes it extraordinarily difficult for them to consult and get that …
Mr WOOD: They could have local boards.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes. If in a unique circumstance the community says, ‘We love the shires. They are not toxic here. We want to keep the name shire council.’ If that is what they want we will look at ways of delivering that for them ...
Mr WOOD: That is what Barkly is saying.
Mr TOLLNER: If Barkly puts up a case to maintain the shire name and can demonstrate it has widespread support, why would we not keep the name? We will not get caught up on names. The reason we changed names is it made it easier to consult with people. There is already a certain stigma around super shires. However, if people want to stick with that, that is their call. In most places around the Territory, certainly those previous ministers and I have visited, there is not much support for maintaining shires.
Clauses 1 to 27 agreed to.
Clause 28:
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.1 standing in my name.
Mr WOOD: Are you speaking to the amendment, minister?
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Distinguished Visitor
Distinguished Visitor
Mr CHAIR: While the minister is collecting his notes, I would like to welcome Damien Ryan, Mayor of Alice Springs, in the public gallery.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr TOLLNER: This amendment is about the ability to identify regional council boundaries and the like. It places authority into the hands of councils and local people to determine and fits within the framework of the bill.
Mr WOOD: Is there any great change between those two or is it just getting rid of the heading ‘by Gazette notice’ and putting the phrase ‘by Gazette notice’ in the next two clauses because that seems to be what has happened?
Mr TOLLNER: It means the council defines its boundary, not the minister, member for Nelson.
Mr WOOD: That is a good move, especially as local government should have the power to do a few things without ministerial overriding.
Mr TOLLNER: Got to keep a close eye on them.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr WOOD: I move amendment 8.1 standing in my name to change proposed section 53C(1)(b) which at present says:
- (1) A local authority is to consist of:
- (b) such other members of the community or communities within the local authority’s area as the council appoints as members of the local authority.
To read:
- (b) such other members of the community or communities within the local authority’s area as are elected by the electors in the local authority’s area.
I will speak to that clause because other areas need to be discussed.
I said I am concerned that if you only have people appointed – the minister used the word ‘represented’ – it is hard to say if people are appointed they are true representatives of that community. The democratic process for that is by election. I understand part of what we have today is people who are, for instance, on the council and can stand as well. You might be looking for people who are specialists in a particular area. If you want to go down that path, have some special spots on the committee for a health representative, an education representative, but they are still the people who should be making the decisions. They might be informed by those people, but people should be elected. I bring back the dangers of this.
We are not talking about local boards any more. Local boards are like the fishing committee – they can turn up any time they like. They are volunteers and turn up at a meeting and say, ‘This is what we think should happen’. You have now put some teeth into this. The change you have brought forward is an attempt to ensure people feel they have ownership. It is something I was harping on for years and something I agree with. If you do not elect people you will not have true ownership. The process – tell me if I am wrong – is people put their name down, get a seconder, put it in an envelope and hand it to the local council. The local council opens it and says, ‘We will pick her, him dah, dah, dah’. They might pick the noisiest ones, the best looking ones, the smartest ones, but they might not be the ones people wanted. It is a fundamental issue. If you want people to have ownership of their community, give them ownership of the people on that committee. That can only be done by election.
You gave me a hint before saying we might be able to have elections or appointments. You cannot have one or the other. Government must protect the rights of people to democratically elect people to represent them. If you start giving a choice you water down that right, and that is something we should protect. It is like saying we should not have a secret ballot. I do not agree. I have seen places where they did not have a secret ballot. They all got in a circle and said, ‘Let’s vote for them’. It might not be what the people wanted but they were too scared not to.
We should maintain this as a local authority elected by the people so we are confident those on the committee represent them when they make decisions about a budget which will affect them.
Ms WALKER: I briefly wanted to speak in support of the member for Nelson’s amendment. As we are talking about giving local voices back, strengthening local voices, to be truly democratic it is about being elected not appointed.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I have prepared some notes on this issue. This is about people wanting their voice back, which means people have to listen. What people have told us is they want appointed local authorities. We will give them what they want, not some expensive and complex system they do not necessarily want. We have to be broadminded and flexible about this. Not every community is the same. Some communities might want culturally-appropriate representation, and they might want to include gender balance and young people, members from local businesses or the local mine, even people from the land council. We are not in the business of being prescriptive and imposing inflexible, expensive and complicated systems on people.
Appointment after nomination is similar to the way advisory committees are formed across government; it is normal. We do not have elections for statutory committees, for instance. The City of Darwin does not have elections for its various committees, and Alice Springs Town Council does not have elections for every committee it puts in place.
It is highly irregular to suggest an elected body should have a subordinate and separately-elected body which is responsible to the higher-level elected body. How complicated is that? Who is representing who? We would not only have elections for councils and wards, but also an extra 63 local authorities. The ramifications and administrative expenses are mind-boggling. The bottom line is it is not necessarily wanted and not necessarily necessary.
We only have to look at the currently operating 59 local boards to see elections are not necessary for local authorities. If we look at the ward elections, six wards had failed elections at the 2012 election and three ward by-elections have failed since the 2012 general election.
As to cost, if local authority elections were run simultaneously across the Territory, it would probably cost around $3m. Yes, it would cost the Territory government because the councils, at this stage, do not have the means to pay. That is just the start. There would be constant by-elections and failed elections at the small local level. Elections are not suited to efficient operations. The electorate, at that level, votes for their representatives on council. That is probably enough voting for most people. I recommend the members for Nelson and Nhulunbuy contact the Northern Territory Electoral Commission on the viability of running these elections.
It has been claimed today that the old community government councils were not democratic. Let us remember the community government councils ran elections for their members. The problem was when the councils did it they did not do it very well. That is where you are trying to send local authorities with this amendment – into an impossible situation. Currently, 39 wards across the shire councils elect council members. We do not believe those areas need another 63 elections. Imagine the extra bureaucracy and administrative load that would be put on councils. How slow would it be to fill vacancies when a costly and time-consuming by-election process has to be gone through?
It could take months for a new member, whereas if members are appointed they can be replaced almost immediately. Do we want council chief executives running elections or delivering services? Do we want scarce local government money used to run elections or provide services? There would be great integrity risk if councils were to run elections. Councils in the past have exhibited that they do not have the skills or resources. Electoral standards are complex, and it is unfair when councils are struggling, as they are, to expect more from them in relation to elections.
We are not about breaking the councils or piling on red tape; we are about making things better. If councils want to run elections for local authorities we will not get in the way. That is a decision they make. If they want to run, through their own means, an election process for local authorities they can. Similarly, if they want to go to the Northern Territory Electoral Commission or the Australian Electoral Office and pay them to do that they can. The means of doing these things is up to them. In many remote communities there are real cultural issues about who the people of authority are. Quite often, that authority is undermined in some regard by elections.
I am not saying they are not allowed to have elections; they can if they want to. However, they have to justify that to their constituents, bearing in mind the scarce funds they have.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister. I have forgotten your quote about the cost of democracy.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, freedom is not free.
Mr WOOD: Yes, all of a sudden that quote is not relevant.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, this is not a free process. We are spending $25m on it as a start.
Mr WOOD: Minister, this will probably cover the three clauses I have because you brought the other one in. There are other ways people can be elected. You have made a big song and dance about how much it will cost. I do not want that, and that is why local government is in here. My footy club would be more democratic than these councils. You could open up nominations for X number of positions in the community. If 20 people put their name down for a council of 14, you have a number of people who could be on it. Then you call an election and find out which of those 20 nominees people want on that committee.
You have a limit of 14 people on these local authorities. You call for nominations, then the council runs a vote where people can elect the 14 people they want on the authority.
There are ways around whether somebody goes off the committee or not. I am sure you could say, if someone goes off the committee, there is no election until such and such. By the way, it is an advisory committee and has enough numbers to keep going. The minimum number is six, so you have plenty of flexibility. There are ways around it to give it some democratic foundation. At the moment, it does not have that because you are taking away the right of people in that authority to decide who will be on it because you are sending it off to the regional council. You are not allowing people who live in the community to make that decision.
I believe something could be adapted, which is not costly, so people have the right to put who they want in there. How they do it I would leave to the council. You can have simple forms for voting but, as I said, my football committee would probably be more democratic than the process you have today.
Before you respond, I do not see anything here which allows a council to elect an authority, it only says ‘appoint’.
Mr TOLLNER: A council can appoint members of an authority. Similarly, a council can allow an election to take place for that authority.
Mr WOOD: Where do you find that? Is it in the act or somewhere else?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, it is not in the act, there is nothing prohibiting it. They can determine that for themselves.
I have a great deal of sympathy for your point of view, member for Nelson. If I put myself in a community I would say, ‘If I have some type of local authority around, I want to have a say in who is on it’. However, there is nothing to restrict that.
Conversely, oddly enough, your amendment would require an election. It would not allow a democratically elected council to appoint a local authority. I have an issue with what you are proposing. I have no issue with a council saying to an authority, ‘Run an election; we will foot the bill; we will think of creative ways of doing it. Let us use Gerry Wood’s football team model as an example.’ I have no problems with that.
Conversely, what you are proposing is they would have to do that. Again, that is the Territory government telling councils how they deal with local people rather than local people telling their councils how they want them to inform the Territory government.
We are about listening and giving a voice to people. Conversely, this amendment, as well-intentioned as it is and I have a great deal of sympathy for it, takes away some of that authority to determine how best to get local authorities up and running.
Mr WOOD: We are getting philosophical here, but governments have a role to play in ensuring democratic processes are upheld, no matter what process you have in government. I have been to places where, if you leave it up to someone else to set the agenda, they will set one which is not democratic. It will be in place forever and a day and people will not be equally represented.
You mentioned culture. I have no problem with the people who own the land being involved in committees and things like that. I see two clear distinctions in local government. Local government is to provide services, in many cases on traditional land, so the cultural side is permission for that local government to provide its services, not to interfere in how the rubbish is picked up, because that is not cultural. The cultural part is the traditional owners allow, for instance, the rubbish pit to be in a certain place so the council can deal with an area of land, and it is their right to do that. You should not mix culture with the provision of essential services because they are different.
When a body is to vote on the budget for that community, you would hope it has support from the people in the community and represents what they all want. The budget may say $10 000 will be spent on putting grass on the football field, and you have some vocal football followers on that committee, when the rest of the community knows the tip is burning every day and does not get enough money to cover it. They want that fixed because they are coughing at night. I would feel more comfortable if decisions were made about those things if people on the authority are genuinely representative of people in that area. The only way I can see that is by some form of election. We could probably argue until the cows come home, but it is a fundamental issue that can be solved simply.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, I have some sympathy for what you are saying. Local areas have to have locally elected people on the council. Those locally elected people are automatically members of the local authority. The local authority will have at least one, perhaps two or three, democratically elected members on it. As you know, when it comes to advisory bodies they are generally appointed. We are talking about a large number of them. We are not ruling out elections. If councils determine their local authorities are to be elected, that is their call. It comes back to your issue of what is most important, the burning rubbish dump where people are breathing in tyre smoke every night or the ability for the local authority to elect its members.
We want local people to make these decisions. We do not want to say, ‘You must have an election’ while in the rubbish dump tyres are burning at night poisoning the whole community. I am sure you follow my point.
Mr WOOD: I do, but I am not saying that. If there is a choice between putting grass on the oval and a fire that is making people sick, I want to ensure a strong lobby group of football fans was not appointed and would say, ‘Blow that, we need some grass on the oval’. A big carnival is coming up and that important issue is not looked at. I would feel more comfortable if decisions and recommendations were made by a group of people truly representative of the area. These are pseudo councils. You keep comparing them with a committee of the government, but you are introducing this to give the local community a say. I do not disagree with that, but I want to ensure the local community is the local community, not a couple of groups with a barrow to push.
Minister, I am happy to finish that section of the debate. I do not know if anyone else wants to speak.
Mr Chair, I believe we have covered my other clauses. If you want to take them together for a vote, which might save time, I am happy to do that.
Mr Chair, I move amendments 8.2 and 8.3 standing in my name. I am putting them forward as the motion this evening.
Amendments 8.1 to 8.3 negatived.
Clause 28, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 29 to 31, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 32:
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.2 standing in my name. This amendment allows the local board or the local authority to elect its own chair and, in the case of a local authority, a member appointed by a local authority as its chair.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.3 standing in my name.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 32, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 33 to 38, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 39:
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, I move amendment 7.4 standing in my name. Section 71(4) of the Local Government Act currently provides for differential allowances to be fixed by the principal member, the deputy principal member, and other members of the council. This committee stage amendment seeks to extend the differential allowances to the chair of a local authority and local authority members. The reason for this amendment relates to the change in relation to how the chair of a local authority is appointed. As the chair will not necessarily be a council member, it may be appropriate to pay a chair eligible under the guidelines a different amount from other members of the local authority. This would recognise the extra work of a chair, such as contributing to the agenda and running meetings.
Ms WALKER: Mr Chair, I cannot let the moment pass without commenting that what has happened is that the government, which has blown its trumpet about these reforms, got something wrong which was pretty fundamental. Stakeholders said they were not happy with the appointment of an elected member to the chair and wanted to do that from within their own ranks, which is fair enough. However, we have amendments coming through at the 11th hour for such important legislation. That is what happens when you get three Local Government ministers in the space of 12 months; things start falling through the cracks. It is sloppy and indicates you are not listening to people because you have something so basic fundamentally wrong. However, at least you are correcting it. You have listened, albeit a little late, minister.
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, I am thrilled you put that last little line in. This is a case of the glass half empty or the glass half full. Clearly, you are doing your job in opposition, pointing out the sky is falling in, we are in serious trouble, we are sloppy and messy, and we are getting things wrong. Our argument is we are listening and are prepared to make changes. It should satisfy the member for Nelson’s concerns about strictness of the guidelines. We are quite prepared to change the guidelines at the drop of a hat, depending on the feedback we get. We want to be flexible and meet community needs. We are listening, and if communities make a valid submission or a representation, we will listen and make the changes. This is an example of that, member for Nhulunbuy.
Ms WALKER: Minister, I want to be very clear about this and ensure we have it on the record. If, for instance, a shire or soon-to-be-named regional council decides to opt out of receiving funds associated with holding their local authority or board meetings, they can still take those funds and put them towards the shortfall in their operational budget. Swimming pools at Areyonga, Kintore and Santa Teresa could use that money for their operational funding to ensure those pools open this summer?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nhulunbuy, the decision maker is the council made up of elected members. If elected members are doing things against the wishes of their constituents they will not remain elected members for long, as Barbara McCarthy and Rob Knight found out. If you do not listen to people, or do things people do not want, it is hard to stay elected. It is something we all need to be aware of and cognisant of and, by the way, I am not preaching to you. Within reason, if a council makes a decision it perceives is for the good of the people, is supported by the people, and is listening to the people, as a government we would support them in those decision-making ventures.
Ms WALKER: Thank you, minister, for the lecture and the homily. They can use funds designated for the running of local authorities to fix swimming pools, yes or no?
Mr TOLLNER: We are trying to provide maximum flexibility and allow local people to have a say in what suits them best and meets their needs. If communities say, ‘We have no interest in local government, we do not want a bar of it’ – and there are communities like that in the Territory – we will respect that. We will not force a council on people who do not want one. We will not force an authority on people who do not want one. However, where there is consensus, or as near to consensus as you could get, where people do not want a local authority or a say on local government – I find that difficult to imagine given the feedback we have received across the Northern Territory – people want a voice – I would be stunned if they said they did not. I am sure there are unique communities who do not want that encumbrance and may determine they are happy not to have a local authority and put the money into the ongoing running costs of a swimming pool.
Ms WALKER: I do not mean to keep this going minister, but I need to be very clear about it. I am not talking about communities that do not want a local authority. I am talking about local communities and local authorities which decide they can do their business in the space of three meetings a year even though they are entitled to be funded for up to eight. Can they use the money to meet the shortfall in operating funds to keep their swimming pool open? I am not talking about not having local authorities, but redirecting funds.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes. By way of clarification, they are not limited to any number of meetings. We have guidelines and can change them at any time. If they want to have 120 meetings a year, provided their council says they can meet the cost, it is up to them. Similarly, if they do not want to have meetings or only want one, two or three meetings, and that meets the needs of the communities, they can do that. We are about providing flexibility and responding to the wishes of communities.
Mr WOOD: To make it clear, you gave us a funding of regional councils document which said $165 078 for Barkly. If they have eight meetings per year, that is the budget. If they have four meetings a year, what is left can be spent on patching the road, fixing the swimming pool, etcetera. If they go over the eight meetings a year it is up to them to find the funds, is that correct?
Mr TOLLNER: Let us be totally clear that these are assumptions. We are assuming eight meetings a year.
Ms WALKER: Looking forward to estimates next year, Dave.
Mr TOLLNER: We are assuming an average of 10 members, and we are assuming there will be eight paid meetings. We are not assuming the allowance; that figure is set for a range of different reasons. It does not necessarily only relate to local government; however, we made those assumptions and came up with that number. If they decide they only want one meeting they can put the savings into roads. If they want 16 they will have to find funds somewhere else. This is an indicative figure of what it will cost the regions to have meetings with that many members on their local authority.
Mr WOOD: How will it work in practice if this is only indicative? Will you give them some money when this bill is enacted, or will they have to send you a bill? At some time will you say, ‘I am sorry, you have run out of money because this was not indicative, this was the real amount’. How will you, in practice, fund councils?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, that is a matter for, at this stage, the Cabinet, Treasury and the Budget Review Committee. We have allocated $25m per annum. That may be more or less than we need to carry out this exercise. There will be a full review of how we can improve the revenue-raising capability of councils. It will take time to determine exactly how we fund those organisations.
We want to provide maximum flexibility, but we are not writing a blank cheque. Allowances will be made to each community based on research and funding claims by regions and communities. However, those decisions have not been fully arrived at.
Mr WOOD: Will you be working with the Local Government Association on that, because it is a fairly important issue? We are talking theory at the moment. When we start to talk about real dollars, councils need to know where it sits in the financial year.
Mr TOLLNER: We will be consulting with LGANT, the councils, and people in the communities. We need Treasury and Department of Local Government input, and I am confident we will arrive at the exact numbers as time goes on. We have increased the budget to Local Government from $20m to $25m, which is a 25% increase, and we have found additional money to help with the transitional arrangements.
Many of these things need to play out before we find ourselves in a mature position to have a complete understanding of where every cent is going.
Amendment agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Chair, amendment 7.4, which we have just discussed, is about the differential allowances for the principal member, the deputy principal member, the chair of the local authority, and other members of the council or local authority.
Members opposite, the last amendment we spoke about was clause 39. Clause 32, which we have passed, was in the case of local authority, local board, or council committee – if the chair is not present, or no one currently holds the position of chair, a member may be chosen by members present to chair that meeting. There should not be too many problems with that clause.
Mr WOOD: I wanted clarification on that. Is that any council committee? Surely that was already there, or is this a totally encompassing change? I thought rules for changing the committee chair on a council would be standard.
Mr TOLLNER: You are right, member for Nelson. It is there for committees, but this makes the case for local authorities.
Clause 39, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 40 agreed to.
Clause 41:
Mr WOOD: Clause 41 refers to section 73. There is a simple insertion about local authority, but in general – this is the section on conflict of interest:
- A member has a conflict of interest in a question arising for decision by the council, local board or council committee if the member or an associate of the member has a personal or financial interest in how the question is decided.
How did you handle that when the note for subsection (1) of clause 53C says:
- A member of the council’s staff is eligible for appointment as a member of a local authority.
Does that not conflict with section 73 of the existing act?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, I will give you the feedback I have in relation to conflict of interest. A conflict of interest does not arise if the interest is: a question about the level of allowances or expenses to be set for members; an interest the member or associate shares in common with the general public or a substantial section of the public; an interest as an elector or ratepayer the member or associate shares in common with other electors or ratepayers; an interest a member or associate has in a non-profit body or association; an interest of the member or associate in appointment or nomination for appointment to a body with predominantly charitable objects, or in payment or reimbursement of membership fees or expenses related to membership of such a body; or an interest so remote or insignificant that it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to influence a decision. The member advises the meeting and CEO of the conflict in interest. The member must not, without permission of the minister, be present at the meeting while the subject is discussed. A member is guilty of an offence if the member fails to disclose an interest as required or contravenes the related requirement. If the tribunal finds a member has participated in the decision of a local authority contrary to this section the tribunal may, on application by an elector or ratepayer, declare the decision void.
I am not certain, member for Nelson, if that answers your specific question.
Mr WOOD: Am I right in assuming, at present, a member of staff cannot be on a council? Not a local authority, but you cannot have a member of staff on a council?
Mr TOLLNER: An employee cannot be a member of the council, but they can be a member of a local authority. If they are a member of the local authority they must declare they are a paid member of the council as a conflict of interest.
Mr WOOD: As long as they do that it is covered? The safeguard is as long as they declare they have a conflict of interest? People will know they work for the council anyway, but for the sake of the minutes you have to declare it.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, they have to declare it. I have always thought the only worrying conflict of interest is the one you do not know about. It is in everyone’s interest that conflicts of interest be declared so people are fully aware where those conflicts lie.
Mr WOOD: Because you are now setting up something with more teeth, will there be training for people in the local authorities so they understand the legislation, their role, and what you said about conflict of interest?
Mr TOLLNER: There is clearly an expectation that CEOs will be across these issues. I expect the local government associations and others involved, along with the Department of Local Government, will be keeping a keen eye on things and providing advice and education where they can.
Mr WOOD: Could I ask a general question, not because I want to keep going forever but …
Mr TOLLNER: It is not that you do not. Nothing turns you on more than local government, Gerry.
Mr WOOD: It is an important area of governance in the Northern Territory, and I want to ensure it is effective. However, like everything, it needs to come back to parliament at some time, and the government needs to say if it is working or not. Do you have any idea when you can provide a review of the changes or a report on how the advisory bodies are working? I have the concerns I stated previously. Perhaps they might be allayed when you provide the good news story that they are working well and people are feeling good, which I hope happens. Could you set a time to report to parliament on how the new local authorities are going?
Mr TOLLNER: Member for Nelson, this is a work in progress. It is the foundation of changes to local government. I have an expectation at this stage – that is all it is – we will be back in February debating further changes to the act. I do not want to go into what they might be at this stage; I want to focus on this. Also, there may be changes around regional authority models.
Again, I do not want to talk too much about that, but it is envisaged we will be back within the next six months with more changes. Updates can be provided at that stage. I expect you and the member for Nhulunbuy to be keeping a keen eye on me and to have questions. It is sometimes difficult to dodge scrutiny in these areas, particularly something as controversial as local government, when the opposition still bangs on about how good the shires were and the rest of the Territory thinks they were toxic.
Mr WOOD: What is the start date?
Mr TOLLNER: Local authorities have to be established and operational by June 2014.
Clause 41 agreed to.
Remainder of bill, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.
Mr TOLLNER (Local Government and Regions): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Government’s Achievements in Sport, Recreation and Racing
Government’s Achievements in Sport, Recreation and Racing
Mr CONLAN (Sport, Recreation and Racing): Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to report to members on the activities and achievements of this government’s active approach to the portfolio of Sport, Recreation and Racing.
There have been subtle changes to our approach and a distinct focus on delivering results. However, our focus remains on encouraging and supporting all Territorians to participate in sport and recreation, whatever their level and ability. The introduction of the Sport Voucher is a testament to our determination to ensure children are playing sport. Our focus is across all Northern Territory regions, and we will be working to ensure not only do our kids play sport, but our young talent get crucial support that might lead to a signing at Adelaide United A-League team, joining Luke Kelly from Katherine at the Parramatta Eels, or following in the footsteps of Aaron Davey at the Melbourne Demons.
On our key achievements, let me start with the creation of a stand-alone department. Sport and recreation is a significant part of our national and Northern Territory psyche, and represents to many who we are. With a relatively young population and our outdoor lifestyle, being involved in sport and recreation either as a player, spectator, volunteer official, or administrator is something that touches nearly every Northern Territory family.
Rather than hide sport and recreation in other portfolios, we ensured it regained the priority it deserved and returned it to a stand-alone department. This means each and every member of that department can give their full attention to delivering and promoting sport and recreation opportunities across the Northern Territory every day.
Once we had sport and recreation back to where it belonged, we set about strengthening relationships with national sporting bodies as a matter of priority. This government has been very active in re-engaging and restoring quality relationships with national bodies such as the Australian Sports Commission, the National Rugby League, the Australian Football League and Cricket Australia. This is because the Northern Territory is a critical part of Australia’s sporting landscape and sport and recreation is a global enterprise.
It is through restoring and developing these relationships we get back to the national agenda and at the forefront of Australia’s sporting bodies. Securing agreements for England to play cricket in Alice Springs, along with agreements with the AFL, the NRL and the A-League, does not come by burying the importance of sport and recreation, it comes from hard work, strong relationships and creating opportunities.
As a result of rebuilding these relationships this government has secured a number of major sporting agreements that will bring top quality national and international sport to the Northern Territory over the next few years, and this is in just 12 months.
While these events add to the Northern Territory lifestyle and provide great entertainment to locals, at the core of all these agreements is game development. We have ensured any agreement entered into with the Northern Territory government will, first and foremost, improve the quality of coaching and development of the sport in the Northern Territory. Better coaches and programs will lead to increased participation, which means healthier Territory children, families and communities.
Let me begin with this government’s first major agreement, bringing international cricket back to the Northern Territory. On 7 May 2013, I announced the Northern Territory government had secured the Chairman’s XI tour match against the England Ashes side. The match is to be played at Traeger Park in Alice Springs from 29 to 30 November 2013, between the first and second Ashes test, breaking a 13-year drought of international cricket at the ground.
The Northern Territory government put enormous effort into securing this game over several months, actively working behind the scenes with Cricket Australia. We know the Ashes is one of the biggest events in Australian sport, and to attract a match between the first and second test will put the Northern Territory front and centre on the world stage. The Chairman’s XI game will help grow the Northern Territory and provide a huge boost for Alice Springs and local businesses as well, with national and international tourists attending the game and experiencing the sites and attractions of Central Australia. The England International test team arrives in Alice Springs on a direct Qantas Boeing 767 flight from Brisbane on Tuesday, 26 November following the first test, and remain until Sunday, 1 December. I thank Qantas for its proactive support of this event.
Tourism NT will utilise the exposure of Central Australia in media around the world during the match to promote the Territory in one of our key international markets, the United Kingdom. Tickets for the game will be available at the gate, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the development of cricket in the Northern Territory. More than 200 corporate tickets have already been sold. The Northern Territory government has been working closely with Cricket Australia, NT Cricket, Tourism Australia and official travel partners in the UK to promote Alice Springs and the Northern Territory and to encourage cricket fans around the world to visit the Northern Territory. We are expecting hundreds of England supporters to travel to Alice Springs to attend this event, as well as national and international media.
Another major agreement this government is immensely proud of is our effort to secure the future growth of rugby league in the Northern Territory. While the popularity of Australian Rules football in the Northern Territory is well-known, rugby league also has a large following in both the Top End and the Centre. The sport’s history in the Northern Territory dates back to 1938, and it continues to grow in popularity with more than 22 000 players registered in the Northern Territory in 2013. Recently, Central Australia rugby league celebrated its 50th anniversary.
With this in mind, shortly after last year’s election victory the new government held talks with the NRL in Sydney to ensure the sport of rugby league continued to grow in the Territory. These talks paid off, and in November last year we secured a deal which would see the third ever NRL game for premiership points played in Darwin.
On 6 July 2013, we saw the Penrith Panthers take on the Gold Coast Titans at TIO Stadium in front of a healthy crowd of 8000. That was the start of things to come. After months of discussions, on 15 August 2013 I was delighted to announce an historic agreement with the Parramatta Eels to secure national rugby league premiership matches played in the Northern Territory until 2018. I was joined by Parramatta club officials and players in Sydney to launch the new four year partnership which begins in 2014.
This announcement is the first time the Northern Territory has partnered with an NRL club to deliver a long-term future of premiership NRL games in the Northern Territory. The agreement will see the Eels play a regular season home game in Darwin, as well as a preseason trial match in Alice Springs in each year of the agreement. These games will inspire more juniors to sign on to rugby league; it is a method that works. After watching NRL stars in action on the weekend, on Monday the children drag mum and dad to their local club to sign up, and that is exactly what we want. An example of this was in Alice Springs in 2006, after the NRL trial match was held, local rugby league saw a 20% increase in juniors signing up for the season.
These games will also deliver significant benefits to the community over the next four years. Our agreement with Parramatta is valued at $4m over four years and is based on four major pillars: the NRL trial match each year; an NRL premiership match each year; sports development – elite pathways and participation; and community engagement programs.
It is important to note this is not a fly-in fly-out agreement. The partnership will see the Eels have a strong, ongoing presence in the Territory. The Eels will be involved in promoting participation in rugby league and touch football to help grow these sports, and the club will conduct training camps and coaching clinics during extended visits to the Territory, working with the NT Institute of Sport to oversee the development of our juniors and coaches from all sports to improve their pathways to the elite level. The club will also be involved in community programs right through the Territory, including remote communities, promoting healthy lifestyles, the importance of numeracy and literacy and going to school.
As part of the agreement, the Northern Territory government will work with the Eels on a new initiative Strong Men, Strong Leadership. The aim is to provide Territory men with strong role models using Parramatta players to inspire better life choices and combat issues such as alcoholism and domestic violence. As well as the sporting and social benefits, Western Sydney is also the third largest economy in Australia and we look forward to growing the Northern Territory through this agreement.
A sign of the commitment by both parties to this agreement could be seen just three weeks after this announcement when the team from Parramatta Eels spent two days visiting their new home away from home in the Northern Territory. The visit saw the club touring top-class sporting facilities both in Darwin and Alice Springs: Richardson Park and TIO Stadium in Darwin, Anzac Oval in Alice Springs. I am delighted to report the Eels left the Territory incredibly impressed saying their decision to play in Alice Springs was an absolute no-brainer and it is a shame they had to wait another five months to play here.
While I have made it clear these agreements with national sporting bodies will help increase participation at the grassroots level of these sports, another aim of these agreements is to develop pathways to allow our talented young athletes to excel and realise their dreams of representing the Territory or Australia at the elite level of their chosen sport. The agreement I announced on 6 September 2013 with A-League club Adelaide United is the most telling example of this. At first glance once might think this is a just a match or sponsorship agreement, but it provides a grassroots development focus on the sport of soccer. Adelaide United will be providing assistance and expertise to improve the quality of junior coaching in Alice Springs with dedicated programs and activities. A full-time development officer will be employed to carry out this program in Alice Springs and Central Australia. In addition, talented juniors will have the opportunity to trial for places in the Adelaide United National Youth League Team, a stepping stone to the A-League itself. As part of this agreement I am excited to announce Adelaide United will guarantee at least one position on this team each year to a young Territorian.
The National Youth League plays 18 home and away games a season and is a direct pathway to the A-League. This is a fantastic incentive every young Territory player can strive for. A place in this team will mean our young homegrown talent will be put under the eye of talent scouts from across Australia and overseas which could lead to elite levels of this sport.
Adelaide United will host a pre-season training camp in Alice Springs which will provide a chance for Territory coaches and players to see, firsthand, the dedication and requirements of playing at the highest level in the country. This will occur in both 2014 and 2015. During the training camp a Northern Territory representative will have the chance to play a practice match against Adelaide United, and at the end of the camp Adelaide United will play another A-League game in a full trial match. For the modest investment of $150 000 a season for two seasons, we believe this is money well spent for football development.
Football Federation Northern Territory reports in 2012 there were 3124 registered players in the Northern Territory. We envisage, through the Adelaide United agreement, this number will continue to rise.
As well as securing these exciting new agreements for Territorians, this government has also set about reinvigorating old agreements signed under the previous government. This, in particular, is the case for the 2010-14 agreement signed by the previous government with the AFL which expires at the end of the 2014 season.
A strong relationship has quickly developed between this government and the Melbourne Football Club as we seek to leverage more Territorians out of this existing agreement. This can be seen by the Demons holding their annual pre-season training camp in Darwin and Palmerston in December last year. Around 60 players and support staff attended the nine day camp which allowed our young up and coming footballers to rub shoulders with some of the AFL’s elite athletes.
The players stayed at Robertson Barracks during their visit and held training camps and community clinics in Palmerston. The club also conducted a full clinic in Jabiru as part of their visit and participated in a gruelling 28 km hike through Kakadu which, through national media exposure of the camp, showcased one of our great natural wonders to the rest of Australia.
On 20 March 2013, the government’s relationship with the Melbourne Football Club was taken a step further with my announcement Tourism NT had signed a new sponsorship agreement with the club. The desire was to leverage what we could out of the remaining AFL games in the Territory by creating a connection between Melbourne and the Northern Territory, being tourism.
This government understands sport and tourism are intrinsically linked and, therefore, can provide substantial benefits to the Territory economy. We are also very aware of the high profile ALF has around the country, and its strong links and engagement with the Territory. Sponsoring the Demons will enable us to tap into the AFL’s massive following, particularly in Melbourne. The Demons’ membership fits our target market demographic of visitors over the age of 50, with high income and a high preference for long travel stays.
A key aspect of this agreement has been using the Demons’ membership database to attract business events to the Northern Territory which, as we know, have substantial flow-on effects to the economy. A consumer competition we ran in June using that database generated 120 000 entries.
The Demons also have a dedicated business network database containing 2400 contacts, and we have been targeting these for the upcoming Meetings Muster trade events in October. Three active leads have already eventuated, with the NT Convention Bureau working hard to confirm. If confirmed, these events will deliver an estimated 700 new delegates, resulting in a $2.5m injection into the local economy.
The sponsorship agreement includes many marketing opportunities such as the Tourism NT logo appearing on the coach’s box and team board on game days, the club’s media polo shirts, signage in MCG change rooms, and coverage on the media club’s backdrop. This has led to significant media exposure for Tourism NT, with the coach’s box regularly shown on televised games watched by hundreds of thousands of footie fans every week, together with the media backdrop scene on various news broadcasts around Australia.
However, perhaps the best demonstration of this mass exposure could be seen a few weeks ago when the legendary Paul Roos was named as the new Melbourne football coach. There will be no mistaking the strong connection between the Territory and the Demons with our famous brolga logo shown repeatedly in pictures and vision online, in television and print from media conferences.
Whilst we do not have the final figures with the season just completed, it is anticipated the sponsorship agreement has enabled Tourism NT to tap into over $1m worth of media exposure through the AFL season this year - a very healthy return on the $200 000 investment.
I touched on other aspects of this partnership in my tourism statement delivered to the House in August, but I can further report that since taking over the top job, Paul Roos has continued Melbourne’s commitment to the Territory through a video on the club’s website and YouTube channel. This commitment is the whole Territory, not just Darwin. We expect to have some exciting news about AFL games in the Territory in the near future demonstrating this.
The Northern Territory community expects to witness top-class national sport on a regular basis in their own back yard. The significant new arrangements I have mentioned will provide for ongoing fixtures to be held in Alice Springs and Darwin. I have already mentioned how these agreements are strongly focused on development and increasing participation.
However, a key imperative of our work in this area is to leverage tourism and economic benefits in these arrangements, which I mentioned was a key focus with Melbourne and the AFL because Territorians expect value for money. I want to make it clear the partnership between the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing and Tourism NT has been instrumental in leveraging a ‘whole club whole Territory’ focus to what we are trying to achieve. In this way, we are setting ourselves apart from previous agreements with peak national bodies. Dealing with the clubs directly will ensure the Northern Territory gets more than just a game and more bang for our buck.
Our goal is to encourage sports fans around Australia to combine their passion with a holiday to the Northern Territory. The sporting events I outlined will help achieve our vision of growing tourism expenditure in the Territory from $1.4bn to $2.2bn by 2020. That will help build a more prosperous Territory economy and create more jobs for Territorians.
As well as the Melbourne Demons sponsorship, we will be pushing Territory tourism through our partnership with Parramatta. We have signed an agreement which will see our new tourism brand ‘Do the NT’ on Adelaide United’s playing strips for the next two seasons. This $200 000 a season investment from Tourism NT will see various campaigns conducted encouraging South Australians to travel to the Centre and the Top End. This season, Adelaide United will be playing eight games on SBS free-to-air television on Friday nights. It is the first time A-League games have been broadcast on free-to-air television live, and it will bring the NT logo into households across Australia.
These sponsorship arrangements are bold and breaking new ground for the Territory, but we have seen them work in other states and jurisdictions and are confident that, at the end of the day, they will benefit the Territory by bringing more visitors here.
Apart from these major sporting agreements, this government has also introduced a new scheme into the Northern Territory to increase the number of children participating in organised sport - the $4m Sport Voucher Scheme. I am pleased the election promise of a $75 sport voucher for junior sport participation became a reality soon after this new government formed in August last year, with the vouchers out to families at the start of the 2013 school year. The objective of the Sport Voucher Scheme is for every enrolled school age child across the Northern Territory to receive a Sport Voucher up to the value $75 to help cover the costs of playing organised sport.
Overall, approximately 45 000 children across the Northern Territory will have an opportunity to benefit from the scheme. So far, over 10 600 children in urban centres and 6000 in remote communities have utilised the vouchers which are being accepted by over 168 sporting clubs across the Northern Territory.
Members may be interested to know in urban areas the most popular sports for redeeming vouchers this year have been soccer, netball, basketball, rugby league and tennis. In remote areas swimming, gymnastics and netball are also very popular. The Northern Territory government’s Sport Voucher Scheme is easing the financial pressure of playing organised sport and ensuring sport is accessible to all young Territorians. The vouchers are for all government and non-government schoolchildren, and allow children to sign up and try a sport without the normal significant financial outlay for fees and uniforms by parents.
We have received some very positive feedback from some local sports clubs who have seen junior registration increase this year, and also an increase in the number of parents and families paying their club fees up front because of the vouchers. This gives clubs certainty in its player numbers and the ability to have funds in the bank to purchase new equipment and pay training facility hire fees.
The vouchers can be redeemed until 30 November 2013. If parents have not used it yet, there is still plenty of time to enrol their child in a brand new sport.
By attracting more kids into organised sport, the Sport Vouchers are helping keep children fit and healthy while benefitting families and the community as a whole. To ensure all children can benefit from the scheme, a separate model was rolled out for remote areas across the Northern Territory.
I am delighted to report some of the programs and opportunities remote students have benefited from include the Sandover Group School in Central Australia pooling their funding to purchase the mobile athletics carnival trailer, and Elliott School providing all students with an equestrian program for two weeks.
After discussions with school principals and local sport leaders, Tennant Creek was included in the urban model and the town held a Sport Voucher sign-on carnival on 24 April this year to maximise the opportunity for parents to redeem the Sport Voucher.
Another election promise this government quickly followed through on was our commitment to increase funding to peak sporting bodies in the NT. To assist peak sporting bodies and active recreation organisations address governance, financial and sustainability issues, this government immediately provided an additional $1.75m, bringing the total funding to around $5.6m to 59 peak sporting bodies and active recreation organisations late in 2012. We repeated the dose in 2013-14.
The role of being a peak sporting body is not easy. Associations and clubs located outside Darwin are always seeking their slice of the pie and often feel neglected, but being a peak sporting body means you need to ensure the sport develops all over the Northern Territory not just in Darwin. The Australian and Territory sport system relies on clubs feeding into associations and associations feeding into peak bodies. We need to ensure there is enough strength at each step.
We understand writing grant applications takes time and effort by volunteers, therefore the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing has been running information sessions to help clubs prepare applications. These sessions are running through the month of October. The department is also delivering seminars in Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin, with the focus on helping grassroots clubs succeed. The seminar includes topics such as club fundraising, marketing, social media and creating a positive club culture.
In total, this government provided over $10m in funding and other grants in the 2013-14 budget. This included $2.3m for the Active Remote Communities Grant Program. This provides funding for employment of about 150 to 160 community Sport and Recreation Officers to deliver sustainable sport and active recreation programs in remote Indigenous communities.
Some programs helping to increase participation in sport in remote communities include: $30 000 to support the John Moriaty Football Project in Borroloola; $50 000 to NT Cricket to hold the Imparja Cup in Alice Springs; $75 000 to the Central Australian Redtails Football Club to support involvement in the 2013-14 NTFL competition; support for the Victoria Daly Shire Council at Daly River to hold the three-day Merrepen Festival in June 2013, where 17 AFL teams, five softball teams, seven women’s basketball teams and five men’s basketball teams competed; and support for the West Arnhem Shire Council to conduct men’s and women’s basketball competitions at Maningrida.
The Roper Gulf Shire AFL completion ran from April to September with junior women’s and men’s senior competitions. Batchelor community has a fortnightly basketball competition comprised of four mixed teams ranging in age from nine to 15-year olds which run from March to December. The McDonnell Shire organises sport competitions at Santa Teresa for basketball which runs all year round.
In early June this year, the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing assisted with running the Barunga festival for AFL, softball and basketball competitions, which saw around 452 individuals competing from ages 10 to 55.
The quality of sport and recreation facilities is crucial to participation in sport. Improved facilities will lead to more Territorians being more active and healthy. Better standards and facilities are also required to attract major sporting events. With this in mind, this government has set about delivering major upgrades which will improve a number of facilities across the Northern Territory, providing a welcome boost to a number of different sports.
An amount of $2.8m has been allocated to upgrade Anzac Oval in Alice Springs in order to improve the change rooms and the amenity for players and officials, as well as spectator facilities. Anzac Oval is home to a number of sports, including rugby league and rugby union, as well as being used by schools and for major events such as the Masters Games. The upgrade to Anzac Oval was an election commitment and delivered by this government in the December 2012 mini-budget.
The planned upgrades will include increased seating capacity with the introduction of the new grandstand, additional change rooms, an upgraded servery, a medical room, and an upgrade to the corporate area, including potential for a lift for disabled access. Works are expected to be completed by January 2014, and the new-look ground is expected to be ready for the first match with the Parramatta Eels in February 2014.
In October 2012, this government delivered on an election funding commitment of $300 000 as part of a joint $1.8m project with the federal government to upgrade the Jingili BMX circuit. The Jingili BMX track is an open air venue currently only allowing BMX to coordinate competitions throughout the Dry Season. That is out of sync with interstate competitions and severely hampers Territory riders when competing and training for interstate, national and international competitions. This project will see a roof constructed over the Jingili BMX circuit which will enable riders from all over the Northern Territory to train and compete during the Wet Season for the first time. The covered circuit will be the first of its kind in Australia. It has the backing of the International Cycling Union and will provide opportunities to develop relationships with the fast growing BMX race scene in Asia, including China and Japan
The Northern Territory has produced several national champions in BMX, and the new all-weather circuit will greatly assist in producing many more champions in the future. Construction commenced in late September with completion expected in January 2014, subject to weather conditions.
This government also promptly honoured another election promise delivering $300 000 to the Satellite City BMX Club in Palmerston for minor new works. Some aspects of the project are under way, with all works set to be completed by October 2014. These include a new clubhouse/canteen with toilet block and amenities, and upgrades to the track and starters hill to national BMX standards. The Satellite City BMX Club was established in 1986 and has approximately 150 riders. While much investment has been made in so-called major sports over the years, it is also important to remember lesser-known sports which have a long history in the Territory and deserve attention from government. BMX is one of those sports.
The December mini-budget also saw $300 000 to the Alice Springs Golf Club to create a sustainable business plan and complete urgent repairs and maintenance, which was an election commitment of the Country Liberal Party. Without this support the club was in real jeopardy of being forced to close its doors. The club was facing ongoing periods of falls in operating income, operating deficits and cash shortfalls, which exposed it to a potentially insolvent trading position. This, quite simply, would have been a disaster for the town of Alice Springs. The club has 1227 financial members, including full and social, and is situated on an urban housing estate and, as such, is an important consideration to the health of the real estate market in that area. Built by Australian golfing legend Peter Thomson during the early 1980s, the course has been rated in the top 100 in Australia and the top 10 desert courses in the world because of its unique position at the foothills of the majestic MacDonnell Ranges. It is the only golf course in Alice Springs and, as such, is a major sporting facility in the town, just as TIO Stadium or Hidden Valley is in Darwin. Therefore, like these facilities, it needs to be maintained. It is vital the Alice Springs Gold Club remains a key recreation and tourism attraction of the town to ensure ongoing economic benefits to Central Australia. I am pleased to report the club has completed its business plan and is on track to sustain a more solid financial footing securing its future in Alice Springs, which is great news.
An amount of $45 000 was allocated to upgrade the lighting of the Alice Springs Karting Club. Construction on the new light towers commenced in July 2013, and the expected completion time is October 2014. The Australian karting titles were held from 4 to 7 October at the Alice Springs Karting Club with over 300 karts competing. The NT titles were held from 27 to 29 September. Estimates are around 1500 people attending both events providing a boost to the local economy.
An amount of $2.5m was also allocated last year to help build the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre at TIO Stadium.
While I have touched on popular sports in the Northern Territory like Aussie rules, rugby league, soccer and cricket, it is no secret motor sport also has a huge following in the Northern Territory. This government recognises ongoing maintenance and upgrades to our sporting facilities is essential to provide safe and appropriate venues for Territorians to participate in all forms of sport. As such, this government announced significant funding in the 2013-14 budget to improve our motor sport facilities at Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex and ensure we retain major events such as the V8 Supercars, the Australian Superbikes and the ANDRA Pro Series, while also opening up opportunities to bring more national competitions to Darwin.
The cornerstone of these announcements was the $9.42m investment in upgrading the Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex. While the Northern Territory government has an agreement to host the V8 Supercars event in Darwin until 2018, the Hidden Valley circuit must meet strict licensing and safety standards in order to stage the local motor sports events each year. The multimillion dollar upgrades I announced will ensure the Hidden Valley motor sports facility remains in peak condition and continues to meet these licensing and safety standards so Darwin can continue to host the V8s, and other national level events, for many years to come.
The importance of events like the V8 Supercars cannot be underestimated. They have multiple flow-on effects to tourism, local businesses and, of course, the economy, not to mention they are a great weekend or day out for the entire family.
This year’s V8 Supercars attracted over 46 000 local and interstate visitors. In 2012, the V8 Supercars injected an estimated $32m into the Northern Territory economy. Over $5m was allocated for Hidden Valley in the 2013-14 budget for resurfacing of the 2.9 km track circuit and upgrading sections of the existing tyre walls to concrete barriers to meet national safety standards required by both Motorcycling Australia and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to host national and local sporting events.
An additional $4.12m will be provided in 2014-15 to upgrade sewerage services, toilet blocks, drainage, and redesign Turn One of the circuit to increase safety in the area. The circuit surface at Hidden Valley has deteriorated over time and, as a result of general usage and the extreme weather conditions, has not been upgraded since its original reconstruction in 1997. Some sections of the service date back to the mid-1980s when the original race circuit was constructed. The quality of the circuit is a consideration for licensing of the complex by Motorcycling Australia and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, and without these licenses most of the major events at Hidden Valley could not take place.
The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Chief Executive issued a media release shortly after this announcement welcoming our investment and congratulating this government on its contribution to Australian motor sport. It is expected some of the upgrades will be completed before the 2014 race season commences, and the remaining upgrades to Hidden Valley will commence mid-July 2014.
Supporting this government’s whole of Northern Territory focus, motorsport in Central Australia did not miss out and also received significant funding in the May budget with a $500 000 capital grant upgrade for the Alice Springs Inland Dragway. The Centre has been neglected in the past but this government is determined to grow our regions, and drag racing provides economic benefits and great entertainment to the community. The funding will allow the Central Australian Drag Racing Association to host more big national events like the Desert Nationals.
Held in Alice Springs for the first time in June 2013, the Desert Nationals saw 150 drivers and their crews travel to the Centre from around Australia, providing a boost for local businesses. The project will see concrete barriers constructed all the way along the quarter mile strip and lighting installed at the facility. The new barriers will mean the drag strip can be upgraded to higher safety standards which will enable the track to attract faster cars and more drivers.
This government is also delivering much-needed shade shelters to the Palmerston Water Park the previous government overlooked when constructing the project. Budget 2013-14 provides $200 000 to construct shade shelters over the children’s wet play area and around the park area.
An additional $150 000 will be spent on building a new child safety barrier and a new shade shelter over the rock pools at Howard Springs. We want Territory children to enjoy our great outdoors and the warm climate as much as possible, but we also want to ensure they are protected from the harmful effects of the sun. These shade shelters will allow children to cool off safely and will mean a more comfortable day out for mums and dads.
This government is also protecting the future of the Palmerston Water Park and Leanyer Recreational Park through an extra $1.2m in funding in the 2013-14 budget to meet ongoing operational costs. Once again, it is critical funding the previous government, sadly, never provided.
In addition to these significant sporting facilities, the Territory is also home to many smaller venues which are used day in, day out by small clubs and sporting organisations. This government recognises these facilities are just as important as other major stadiums and ovals around the Territory, and has moved to continue upgrading and developing the standard of these facilities to the benefit of all Territorians. As I said, improved facilities will lead to more people participating in sport, which means healthier Territorians, which mean healthier communities.
I recently announced over $1m in smaller facility grants that provide a much-needed facility boost at grassroots level. It was great for me to make this announcement in Katherine. In all, 32 sporting organisations across the Northern Territory will benefit from the 2013 facility and capital grant investment program which provides grants to important infrastructure upgrades. The facility and capital investment program was open to all Territory clubs, groups, peak sporting bodies, active recreation organisations, service deliverers, as well as shire and municipal councils. Each organisations could apply for a maximum grant of $50 000 per year. The funding will expand the range and reach of sporting organisations across the Territory and enhance their ability to deliver affordable and accessible sport and recreation opportunity competitions, events, and programs through development of their facilities.
Some examples of how this funding directly supports smaller clubs and associations include: $43 500 to improve irrigation at the Katherine Country Club; $20 000 to upgrade the basketball court at Timber Creek; $38 000 to upgrade the cycling centre in Alice Springs; $50 000 for upgrades at the Gove Squash Club; $13 000 for softball oval upgrades at Engawala; $50 000 for new cricket training nets in Palmerston, a facility so old the club has resorted to using fishing nets; and $50 000 for a new surf sports training facility at Lake Alexander.
Active recreation organisations such as Girl Guides, Riding for the Disabled, the YMCA and Scouts have also received funding as part of the programs, which will allow them to continue to deliver their important service to Territorians. This government is committed to building a confident culture in all our communities focusing on a healthy, active and enjoyable lifestyle, taking advantage of the unique features of the Northern Territory. These grants will allow this to occur.
Unfortunately, Sports House has reached the end of its economic life with the air conditioning breaking down. This necessitated the department relocating and administration-based tenants being offered alternative accommodation at Ethos House. The department continues to work with other tenants, including Badminton, Sub-Aqua and the Radio Club to find suitable alternate accommodation.
When talking about our sporting facilities, it is worth nothing this government is also focused on the ongoing upkeep and maintenance of these facilities. As I said before, this government is seeking to leverage tourism and business benefits from sporting events. Therefore, it is important we pay attention to visiting tourists and corporate guests at our fixtures and events. On this side of the Assembly, we want southerners to visit the Northern Territory and watch a national level of sporting fixtures, but we need to ensure they have a quality experience. Our sporting bodies need to understand the presentation of facilities, especially those leased from the government, are professionally turned out and maintained at a very high level.
Other achievements and a key focus of this government over the past 12 months have been to attract more national championships to the Northern Territory. It might not be well-known that the Northern Territory has hosted several national championships this year which have all been successful in bringing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of sportspeople to the Territory, putting money back into our economy. I will expand on a few to the House.
The Hottest 7s: this government committed $160 000 to fund the 2013 Hottest 7s in the World in January – more funding not allocated in the 2012-13 budget by the previous government. This tournament allows rugby fans across the Top End to see talented and professional athletes compete over two days at Rugby Park, Marrara. Rugby Sevens has been accepted as an Olympic sport from 2016, allowing this tournament to act as a stepping stone for potential Olympians. The influx of athletes and staff provides an economic boost to Darwin businesses in a traditionally off-peak period for visitors to the city.
In 2013, a record 49 teams competed for a share of $65 000 in prize money. The event saw over 700 elite athletes compete from six countries, including players from the New Zealand and Samoan national teams. Spectators totalling 3800 attended the Hottest 7s compared to 2100 at the pre-season trial match between the Canberra Brumbies and the Western Force, which cost double the amount to stage. This is why we made the difficult decision to not renew the government’s $300 000 a year contract with the Brumbies and instead focus on growing the Hottest 7s and making that event bigger and better for rugby fans. In these tough economic times, we need to prioritise our sporting events and ensure we are delivering high quality sport at a reasonable cost to Territorians.
The Surf Life Saving Inflatable Boat Rescue Championships: 2013 was an exciting time when history was made with the first ever Australian Inflatable Boat Rescue Championships held at Mindil Beach, Darwin. For the first time the Territory had its own team competing in the national championships. More than 400 athletes from around Australia competed in the championships, with around 600 involved all up including coaches, team managers, support crews, and the event could not have been made possible without the government contributing $50 000 to help stage it.
From 29 September to 5 October 2013 the Northern Territory hosted the 32nd AFL Masters National Carnival, the first time since 2008. The carnival saw more than 1300 players, officials and supporters attend from all over Australia competing in over 35s to over 55s, inspiring people of all ages to keep active and healthy. This government ensured the event could be held in Darwin with $30 000 in funding as well as in-kind support. We know events like the AFL Masters showcase our regions is a great place to visit and provides support for local tourism, small business and jobs.
Other national sporting championships and competitions held in the Northern Territory in 2013 include: the Indigenous All Stars versus Richmond in Alice Springs, where a crowd of 5000 attended the game which saw national media spend the weekend in Central Australia; the WNBL game, West Coast Waves versus Sydney University in Alice Springs; the Imparja Cup; the NAB pre-season AFL game, West Coast versus Port Adelaide in Alice Springs; the Women’s Australian Under 21 Hockey Championship; the Underage National Netball Championship; the Finke Desert Race; Drag racing, with the first ever Desert Nationals in Alice Springs and the ANDRA Pro Series and Aeroflow Sportsman Championship in Darwin; the Darwin International Squash Doubles Championship; the Australian Veterans Table Tennis Championship; and the Alice Springs Pro Tour Tennis International.
This government is also determined to reinvigorate the Masters Games, which will be held in Alice Springs in October 2014. In the early 1980s the Australian Sports Commission first suggested the idea of the Masters Games and the philosophy of masters sport. The Northern Territory government immediately embraced the idea seeing potential opportunities for economic and social development benefits and, in 1986, the first ever Masters Games event in Australia was held in Alice Springs. The Games quickly developed into a success story and earned the reputation of the ‘friendly games’ because of the camaraderie and good-spirited nature of the competitors and the environment created by the games village atmosphere of Alice. The Masters Games, and the way it captures the spirit of our town every two years, is something I have not seen anywhere else in the country. It is unique to the Territory and the Centre. It is a fantastic event and we want to make it even better and return it to its glory days.
That is why this government has established a Masters Games Steering Committee after seeking expressions of interest this year. The committee will be made up of volunteers and will set the direction of the 2014 Games to ensure they remain on track to be enjoyed by participants from all over Australia. Its job will be to provide input to help improve the overall quality and experience of the Games, link the local community with the Games and its associated activities, and increase participation.
With the new committee members and a new focus, along with the return of Tigerair to Alice Springs, the 2014 Masters Games should be another great success and something Alice Springs and all Territorians can be proud of.
For national, state and territory peak sporting bodies, 2013 has also seen a renewed emphasis on the issue of drugs in sport and, by extension, organised crime in sport. I joined other state and territory Sport and Recreation ministers in ensuring a firm response to this issue. In the Northern Territory this has been reflected in recent legislation introduced into the Assembly regarding match fixing.
The Chief Executive of the Department of Sport, Recreation and Racing wrote to peak sporting bodies and Northern Territory Institute of Sport athletes and staff reminding them of their obligations from being involved in the national sporting system and to report actions and behaviours which contradict the World Anti-Doping Code and threaten the integrity of the sport in the Northern Territory.
The recent match fixing issue with soccer in Victoria is a demonstration this criminal activity can be felt at state or territory competition level. That is why this government acted swiftly to pass legislation to protect the integrity of professional sport by ensuring those engaged in match fixing in the Northern Territory face serious penalties. Amendments to the Criminal Code (Cheating and Gambling) Bill introduced by the Attorney-General recently include five new offences to prohibit cheating or fraud in sports betting which can carry up to seven years’ imprisonment. Match fixing is a serious offence with tougher penalties which will act as a deterrent for those considering participating in such activities. The changes are part of the national push to protect integrity in Australian sport.
The Northern Institute of Sport, NTIS, has had a pivotal role in the development of Northern Territory sporting talent since its inception in 1996. It houses the National Heat Training and Acclimatisation Centre, and has been endorsed by the Australian Olympic Committee as an Olympic training centre and the Australian Sports Commission as a national training centre. The Northern Territory Institute of Sport has a role in enhancing the overall system of high performance sport in the Northern Territory, working with peak sporting bodies so they can develop their own programs leading into the Territory Institute of Sport.
The development of NT Thunder, the NT Pearls and Stingers and, most recently, the NT Strike in the new South Australian premier league for cricket all point to the Northern Territory sporting sector developing more opportunities for talented athletes and a continuing role for the Northern Territory Institute of Sport.
However, this government is determined that the Northern Territory Institute of Sport continues to provide the right direction and support to athletes and the sector at the right time. The Australian Sports Commission recently completed a review of the operation of the Institute. From that I am pleased to report we are headed on the right track, but, as always, improvements can be made. In particular and in support of the national performance plan, Australia’s Winning Edge, the Institute will concentrate on supporting coaches, athletes and peak sporting bodies ensuring the right support is provided at the right time. The Institute will be entering into new sporting agreements at the start of 2014, and will be working to ensure the provision of quality coaches across our sporting environment remains a high focus.
Let us touch on Racing. One industry that merges sport and recreation more than any other is racing, and I am proud to be the Northern Territory Racing minister. The racing industry is hard-working and resilient, a fact never more evident than at this year’s Darwin Cup after the tragic death of leading female jockey, Simone Montgomerie.
The industry is also a substantial contributor to the Northern Territory economy, attracting thousands of interstate visitors to the Territory each year. That is why this government allocated $14.7m in the 2013-14 budget to assist the thoroughbred racing industry conduct race meetings and maintain facilities across the Territory.
Like the other sports I mentioned previously, this government has also gone about ensuring we leverage tourism benefits off our cup carnivals and gain maximum exposure in the Territory. For instance, over the final week of the 2013 Darwin Cup Carnival we arranged for Sky Racing Channel presenter and well-known jockey, Bernadette Cooper, to wear the special one-off jockey silks featuring our brolga logo and the travelnt.com website. The brolga was prominently displayed during coverage of the event on Sky Racing Channel 1, Sky Racing 2, and Sky Racing World, with the broadcast going to more than 50 countries including the US, the UK and South Africa.
This government has plans to further develop our racing industry and allow the sector to develop business opportunities for own-source revenue to supplement its government funding. I am pleased to say some of that is well under way.
Greyhound racing is also another recreation pastime enjoyed by Territorians. In the 2013-14 budget this government took steps to secure the future of this industry which has recently gone through difficult financial times. In 2011-12, the Racing Commission was forced to appoint an administrator to the Darwin Greyhound Association to review its operations. To ensure the ongoing viability of the industry the Northern Territory government committed to a new three-year funding agreement with the Darwin Greyhound Association which includes an additional $230 000 to bring total funding for 2013-14 to $800 000. The additional $230 000 in 2013 will allow the Darwin Greyhound Association to maintain its prize money which will entice more interstate visitors and lead to more runners. This funding will assist the Darwin Greyhound Association with industry development and help conduct race meetings and maintain the facility at Winnellie.
It is also hoped the new funding agreement will allow Darwin greyhound racing to be broadcast nationally and internationally on Sky Channel, something we are working hard to achieve.
I would like to conclude by highlighting some of the programs and activities we can look forward to over the next 12 months. There is the Women’s National Basketball League match featuring the West Coast Waves to be played in Alice Springs in November; the Chairman’s XI versus England tour match in Alice Springs. Securing this event is a testament to the development of Traeger Park and the commitment of many individuals over many years to developing both facilities and the game of cricket. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Alice Springs and the Territory to the world, and we hope it does not stop there.
We also have the 2014 Hottest 7s Rugby tournament in January; the pre-season Australian Football League and national Rugby League games in Alice Springs through February and March; the Imparja Cricket Cup; the NT Sports Awards; the premiership AFL and NRL games; the Alice Springs Cup Carnival and the Darwin Cup Carnival; a pre-season A-League game; the Finke Desert Race; the V8s at Hidden Valley; the National Polocrosse Championships to be held in Darwin; the Alice Springs Masters Games; and the 2014 round of the $75 children’s Sport Vouchers.
Of particular interest is our plan to take the Northern Territory Sports Awards Territory-wide by allowing all major regions to share in this annual celebration of Northern Territory sport. All sports from the Top End to Katherine to Alice Springs will get a turn hosting this prestigious night. This shows the government’s strong focus to support a whole-of-Territory approach.
Of course, there are many more activities too numerous to list. The fact remains this government will continue to drive support and funding at grassroots level, provide pathways for our talented juniors, position and represent the Territory’s best interest nationally, and increase participation across all sports and all ages. I am very pleased to be the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing, and proud of what has been achieved so far. A lot has been done, and there is much more to do
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
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Distinguished Visitor
Distinguished Visitor
Mr Acting DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the next speaker, I would like to recognise Mr Steven Hennessey, Deputy Mayor of the Victoria Daly Shire, welcome.
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Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the member for Johnston is unwell so I am responding on behalf of the opposition. I thank the Chief Minister for indicating that the statement will be adjourned later tonight rather than wrapped. This will give the member for Johnston, the shadow minister for Sport, an opportunity to talk to the statement at a later date. He left me copious notes, for which I thank him.
In the sport and recreation area we are often bipartisan. We may have arguments occasionally, but we love our sport. The minister indicated that in his early remarks where he spoke about the subtle changes to our approach within the Sport and Recreation portfolio area. We inherited Sport and Recreation from the CLP in 2001, and they have inherited it from us in 2012, and, by and large, we are heading in the same direction and much of it is about pathways. Sport provides, in more ways than any other area, a pathway out. People can see from junior sport through to mature success what you can achieve in sport. It provides a pathway out; a line of hope.
Sport also brings individuals and communities together. The minister listed a range of sports and events we can look forward to.
While we have the Mayor of Alice Springs here, the minister mentioned the Masters Games and how the government is refreshing the Games. That sounds fantastic and we will be happy to work with them on that. The Masters Games is huge, important, and fantastic. How can we make it better?
He also mentioned the Finke Desert Race. Obviously, that is close to the heart of Damien Ryan, who is part of what keeps the Finke Desert Race pumping. My grandfather was one of the founders of the Finke Desert Race and valued the work Damien did, and still does, to keep the Finke Desert Race going. It is an important event which keeps Alice Springs on the national and international stage and sees the majority of the town out camping. I love the time I have, which is rare, when I get to the Finke Desert Race and camp at one of the fuel pit stops with Gogs and others. It is one of the best weekends you can have.
Sport has an amazing capacity to bring communities and individuals together and have a positive impact on people. Other things can do that too. The Darwin Festival is a good example of bringing individuals and communities together, but sport has a great capacity to make people equal. By and large, we have a bipartisan approach to the Sport and Recreation policies.
The minister listed a key achievement of creating a stand-alone department. I am not necessarily for or against a stand-alone department; there are cases either way. A stand-alone department does not create greater sporting opportunities or a better sporting community. People in sport and recreation – some are probably listening right now – do an amazing job. It is one of the more difficult areas to work in, and I am sure the minister has realised this.
The people you meet in sport and recreation are passionate and one-eyed. When they talk to you about their club or their sporting organisation, they do not care about anyone else’s. You cannot necessarily have a rational conversation with them about where the funding is going and or how it is broken up. If their club needs money, their club has to get money. You might meet a professional lobbyist from a different area, such as the Cattlemen’s Association, but I will not pick on them as they have a very good lobby group. You might be able to have a rational conversation with them.
Waratah Hockey Club, the Pint Club, or the Polocrosse Association will not always be rational. They want the best for their group and are one-eyed. Politics in sport is sometimes very intense. The people at Sport and Recreation – I am sure the minister is across this – at times deal with incredibly difficult situations. Anyone who has spent time in a sporting environment would appreciate that competition on the field does not always stop there; they are very competitive off the field too. I am sure staff at Sport and Recreation do a fantastic job whether it is a stand-alone department or not. They are terrific people.
Labor had a fantastic relationship with national peak sporting bodies, and the CLP has continued to invest in those relationships. We saw a series of major events come to town during the last 10 or 12 years which we were very proud of. We were proud that the Labor government could get national football codes to Darwin – premiership games with premiership points in AFL and NRL – and the first cricket test to the Territory. As a born and bred Territorian who loves his cricket, it was fantastic to drive to Marrara cricket ground, the RMCG, and watch Glenn McGrath play.
We got a bit carried away and created the Hogg Club. We had a big banner ‘In Hogg we Trust’ and every time Brad Hogg ran on as 12th man we got right into it. The crowd started cheering more for Brad Hogg than the players. That is part of test cricket. It was fantastic, in Darwin, to watch international test cricket at Marrara. I was talking to Cameron Angus before he went. A bunch of my family and friends went; it was a packed ground with international test cricket and the eyes of the world on us. I am pleased to see the CLP has continued bringing major events to town.
One disappointment is the Arafura Games being cancelled. There was no mention of the Arafura Games in this statement. The last time we had a statement in the House around major events it was not mentioned, and we would love to know what is happening with the Arafura Games. There are other speakers to the statement, perhaps they will touch on it. The Chief Minister said they will come back bigger and better. We would love details on that. We love the Arafura Games, a fantastic community event. We know people who had billets in their house, would volunteer, and really got into the spirit. These people are not necessarily sporting types, but every time the Arafura Games came to town they would billet someone and volunteer at an event because they loved the interaction and involvement with the people who visited the Northern Territory.
It was a fantastic event from a community perspective, and it contributed to the Northern Territory economy. We would love more information from the CLP about where and what is happening with the Arafura Games. If it comes back bigger and better, that is fantastic, but give us some details.
The minister mentioned Australian rugby union, and it is disappointing that the Brumbies are no longer coming to town as they are a fantastic club. We had a good value for money deal with them, and as part of that deal we had a development officer. You cannot underestimate the impact of a development officer. They have a fantastic relationship with juniors and a great capacity to contribute to the health of the sport.
I like the Hottest 7s, a fantastic event happening at a very hot time of year. The minister would appreciate having sporting events outside the Dry Season and the Hottest 7s does that.
The value for money from the Brumbies deal should not be ignored. The fact it came with a development officer was crucial to rugby union. It is a shame we have lost the Brumbies and the development officer. It was a good deal for $300 000. I am biased. Most Territorians played sport growing up, but union was probably my favourite sport. I want to see union successful in the Northern Territory. The development officer had a large role in ensuring juniors came through because the health of any sporting organisation is based on the health of its juniors. Union has done a lot of good work recently and has some good juniors coming through. You cannot underestimate the impact of a development officer and it was a shame to lose the one from the Brumbies deal.
The minister should be proud of securing the tour match for Alice Springs. He talks about the upcoming summer. The Ashes are huge and it is great to have the English team come to town, but it is a shame we have two test matches and some one day internationals but are not seeing international matches in the Territory. We need to continue working with Cricket Australia. It would be fantastic to get test cricket back to Marrara as it is an international standard ground, and it would be fantastic to have cricket there again. We got the ground up to standard and should be looking to secure some international matches.
It is tricky with the Future Tours Programme the ICC has; however, we had games in the past and it would be great if we could get games again. To have Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene come to town was fantastic. It was a shame Muley decided not to come. There were some crowd factors at play, which was a shame, but we had some fantastic superstars in Darwin. It would be great to see international test cricket come back to town.
The minister touched on the Parramatta Eels agreement worth $1m a season for four seasons. We have a home-and-away game as well as a trial game, which is good. However, I am uncertain – perhaps the minister can touch on this when he replies – if a development officer comes with that. If we compare this deal with the Brumbies deal we can see the value in the Brumbies deal. It is great we have NRL games coming to town, but this deal is costing more. Perhaps there is a free-to-air argument, but I am unaware if it comes with a development officer. The Adelaide United deal highlights the value of the Brumbies deal.
It is fantastic Adelaide United is coming to Alice Springs. It is good to see events in Alice. We are a Territory and, because of its size and being the capital, Darwin gets many events. For $250 000 we get a trial match and a logo, compared to the Brumbies game where we got a development officer as well. We get, which is fantastic, a guaranteed spot for one NT player in the Adelaide United National Youth League team which will play in the Under 18 National Youth League, a positive step. It is fantastic that Alice Springs is getting soccer. When I was playing for Verdi in Alice going back too many years, soccer was a very popular sport.
We also have a fantastic facility in Darwin. I would like to see an A-League game here at some point. I am sure that is on the minister’s mind when he is talking to the A-League. We have a game in Alice; at some stage we need a game in Darwin where we have a great facility. Larrakeyah Park is a great facility and there is a huge soccer community in Darwin. It is good to see the soccer community in Alice Springs getting A-League games and the guaranteed Under 18 spot up for grabs.
Aussie rules is probably the most popular sport in the Territory, almost a religion for some people. I barrack for Carlton and get a bit passionate at times …
Mr Chandler: Go the Blues!
Mr GUNNER: Go the Blues, very good.
The government’s main focus on AFL has been tourism and sponsorship through the Melbourne Demons. In his statement, the minister spoke about the exposure the NT received last year from the NT’s brolga being on the backdrop of the Melbourne coaching box and the media backdrop. As a Carlton fan, I do not want to pick on Melbourne because we have had some pretty horrendous years recently. There probably was not a more depressing place this season than the backdrop of the Melbourne coaching box or Melbourne media background. Hopefully, under Roos, next year Melbourne plays better. It was a pretty depressing year for Melbourne. You cannot always know that when you invest in the club. Unfortunately, the brolga was behind a club that did not go too well this year.
The only worse place you could have been this year was Essendon Football Club, with all the controversy it had. You have to take into account the quality of what you are buying. Unfortunately, this year Melbourne had a rough time. With the AFL going in and Paul Roos taking over, I am sure they are hoping for better seasons to come.
People want to know where the AFL agreement is heading because it runs out in 2014. Obviously, we like having AFL games in Darwin. We have heard all about the brolga, the logo, the placement and what money you might get out of that. The minister may have an opinion on whether it is good to be associated with a club that is not going too well at the moment.
We would love to know what football we will have in Alice Springs and Darwin past 2014. We have had Indigenous All Stars games in the past, pre-season games and games for premiership points. Where will we be after 2014? We may not be able to talk about it yet because of the contract, but we would like to know what happens after 2014.
The minister touched on the Sport Vouchers worth $75. We have had the argument in the past, and welcome anything which helps relieve the cost of living pressures at the moment. Unfortunately, $75 does not go far towards helping people pay increased power and water bills. We welcome the small attempt from the CLP to help with the cost of living, one thing they have done towards their cost of living promise. Unfortunately, the amount people have to pay is more than the $75 Sport Voucher. However, it is a small concession for people who have had an enormous increase to their cost of living.
I understand that 45 000 people are eligible for the voucher and 16 000 people have taken it up. Sixteen thousand by $75 is $1.2m. I believe $4m was budgeted, which means $2.8m remains. It is not my area so perhaps I have the figures wrong. Where is the rest of the money? What is happening with it? How much did this cost to implement? I doubt it cost $2.8m to implement. Where has that money gone? There are some theories in the community at the moment and I am unsure if the minister wants to comment on this – it might be the Minister for Education. There is a rumour that School Sport NT will be scrapped and this money will be used for an alternative program. I would love some clarity around what is happening with the money left over from the Sport Voucher. What will the CLP do with it?
The minister is also minister for Racing. I was a little surprised that in a 36-page statement it only got one page towards the end. As the member for Fannie Bay, I have a strong involvement with the local Darwin Turf Club because it is in the electorate and I love going there. Obviously, racing is much bigger than the Darwin Turf Club. There are five other racing clubs: Adelaide River, Pine Creek, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. The majority of racing happens in Alice and Darwin.
Racing is a massive industry in the Northern Territory. I am sure the minister knows this because it was touched on at the launch of the Darwin Turf Club season. In his statement he said:
- The industry is also a substantial contributor to the Northern Territory economy, attracting thousands of interstate visitors to the Territory each year.
I will add a little more detail on the impact and size of racing in the Territory for people listening. Thoroughbred Racing NT has a very good report on the size and scope of the industry which I am sure the minister is aware of. The total economic value generated by racing is estimated at $192.3m, the direct full-time equivalent employment is 1216, the flow-on full-time equivalent employment is 826, total full-time equivalent employment is 2041, and total household income generated is $107.6m. Racing adds $147m to the Darwin economy, employing 15 051 people and earning $82m. There is $40m to the Alice Springs economy employing 466 people and earning $24m, and $2m across the rest of the Northern Territory. One in every 91 Northern Territory adult residents participates or is employed in the NT racing industry. More than one in five NT residents attended a race meeting in 2010-11, making it the third highest sport attended in the Territory behind, marginally, motor racing and Australian Rules football. On average, there are 307 horses in training in the Northern Territory at any one time and approximately 15% of horses in training are visiting horses from interstate.
That is a really good point. Racing brings people in from other parts of Australia. That is one of the values of the Arafura Games and the Masters Games. Events that bring people in from interstate have a big impact on the local economy and, at any one time, approximately 15% of all horses training in the Territory come from interstate. The Territory government receives more than $9m from wagering taxes alone. Racing is an industry as much as a sport with a huge impact in the Northern Territory. It is a valuable sport.
We all know the success of the Alice Springs and Darwin Cup Carnivals. I had friends in Darwin who were married on the Darwin Cup weekend. That was a huge mistake because it was a nightmare to find accommodation. About 30% of people coming to the Darwin Cup come from outside Darwin. It is a massive weekend, very crowded, and one of the best weekends on the Territory calendar.
At the Alice Springs Carnival, 60% of people attending come from outside Alice. That is huge, and twice as much as Darwin. I knew the Alice Springs Cup was big, I knew the Darwin Cup was big, but I did not realise 60% of the people who went to the Alice Springs Cup were from outside Alice Springs. The cup carnivals are huge events bringing people and communities together.
There is more to racing than horses going around. That is a big part of it and people love it, but anyone who has been to a race day knows the camaraderie away from the race track is huge. It could be a marquee, it could be a tent, it could be a corporate gathering, or it could be you and six mates. It has amazing capacity to bring people together for an afternoon or a twilight race, and it has a positive impact. You have to be careful with gambling and wagering. There are areas you need to be careful with in the racing portfolio, and I would like some advice from the minister.
When the CLP first came to government they split Racing from Gaming and Licensing, an unusual step. Other jurisdictions do not do that because a big part of racing is managing the regulatory side. The racing industry considers the minister to be in charge of regulation. I would love to know how that works in practice. My understanding is the Racing Commission has gone from the department of Sport to the Department of Business. Perhaps the minister can touch on how this is working in his reply. I do not believe there was consultation with the industry around this decision to split Racing, Gaming and Licensing. Perhaps moving the Racing Commission to the Department of Business has been on the basis of feedback. I would love to know how that is working. I asked for a briefing when things were being sorted and never received one. I would appreciate something as simple as a statement in reply on how that works.
Racing is more than money. The minister touched on the tragic death of Simone Montgomerie on Darwin Cup Day. Simone, a young jockey, had a fatal fall in the sixth at the Darwin Cup. The day was, responsibly, called off from that point. Not everyone saw the fall because of the nature of the Darwin Cup. Unfortunately, I saw her fall. At the time I did not realise it was serious. From where I was standing, it looked like she fell to the side. When we heard the news later, it was a bit of a kick, an incredibly tragic moment. For people involved with racing, a very small community, it had a huge impact. It was a sensible decision to call off the race day, and I appreciate the phone call from the minister about how it was being handled.
It is a tough sport. Simone was the 502nd jockey to lose her life since Australian racing began. It is an extraordinary statistic from the National Jockeys Trust website. I looked at that figure several times because it is an extraordinary number and puts into perspective how dangerous racing is. There have been many improvements over the years, but there still is much danger in riding a horse around a track.
I commend Brett Dixon, Charles Burkitt, Justin Coleman and everyone involved in TRNT and DTC boards and executive for the way they responded to the tragedy. Brett’s leadership was outstanding, and he brought the community together. They responded in several different ways, including a whole-day tribute day. They also had, the first day back, a special moment for Simone, in addition to the fund that was established so people could donate directly to the Montgomerie family. Darwin Turf Club and Thoroughbred Racing NT gave that a kick-start by donating $200 000, the prize money from the Darwin Cup. The government also contributed $50 000, which was good. The racing industry will continue to support the family well into the future as Simone’s daughter grows up.
I would like some more information from the minister in his reply. He mentioned the government has plans to further develop our racing industry. What are those plans? I understand the government has cut funding to the insurance bill it pays. I would like some information around that. Has funding been cut to help cover the insurance bill?
We will miss Philip Neck, who is departing Darwin Turf Club. They have a very good team at Darwin Turf Club, and I am looking forward to meeting the new CEO. I need a good relationship with the CEO because the club is in my electorate. It has neighbours and, as you can imagine, from time to time local issues arise between the turf club and surrounding neighbours, and you have to work with them both to manage the issues. That is a small local member point. Phil Neck has done a fantastic job and has worked closely with Brett in taking the turf club forward. It is always quite surprising to see Darwin Turf Club growing and improving because it has done so well to date. We thank Philip for his work and appreciate what he has done. I look forward to meeting and working with the new CEO.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, I thank the minister for bringing this statement to the House. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about a range of sport, recreation and racing issues. Our member for Johnston, as shadow minister for Sport, will have an opportunity at a later date to speak and contribute. I thank the minister for his contribution.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support this statement from my colleague, the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing. I deal with this in a number of ways, firstly from my Youth portfolio, secondly from my Infrastructure portfolio, as I get to build some of the additions the Sport minister has brought online across the Territory.
The other aspect of this is that in the Top End, particularly Darwin, many sporting institutions, grounds and facilities are in my electorate. It is with great pleasure that I speak to some of these.
A National Rugby League match was held in Darwin recently between the Penrith Panthers and the Gold Coast Titans at TIO Stadium in my electorate. Sadly, I was at another function that night but I heard the roar from the crowd from the multicultural event I attended about 2 km away. I imagine they were having a fantastic time.
This government is bringing these magnificent matches to Darwin. It is about inspiring young people. Much of what I will talk about is to inspire young people and ensure young people in the Northern Territory have the opportunity to see their heroes, heroines and people who can inspire them to pursue a sporting career, or at least get involved in sport and have good fun.
When I was growing up I was encouraged to participate in sport. Like many families, you struggle to buy a pair of footy boots and other things, and there are some sports you cannot compete in. A number of sports I wanted to compete in required a large investment and my family could not do that, but we found other sports.
Fortunately, responsible governments across the country bring in these measures to keep young people occupied, and not only young people. Under my Seniors portfolio there are many sports we encourage older people to get involved in.
I was at the first birthday of the Darwin Squash Association on Saturday and was amazed because many people were playing. I looked around the grounds and noticed a lot of cars. What you do not realise is that some of the people driving those cars are seniors. It is fascinating to see so many older people playing squash. What did not surprise me were the knee supports they were wearing. Being an old squash player myself, I am aware of the toll it takes on your knees.
They had people as young as four or five and people in their 60s playing squash. What a magnificent thing when you have facilities where young people can start and can be active all through their life.
When I was a kid I was told ‘into sport out of court’, and that still rings true. It is our responsibility as a government to provide sporting opportunities for young people.
We have secured a $4m deal over four years with the Parramatta Eels. This will see National Rugby League premiership matches in the Northern Territory until 2014. What a fantastic initiative. The interest this generates amongst young people who can see fantastic athletes in action must be inspiring. It inspired me when I was young. When I was growing up in Perth, Kevin Sheedy was at Perth Oval inspiring us young tackers to get into footy and do things, and we did. When I was a young boy he was an inspiration, and he went on to inspire professional AFL players.
It is with great pride I support the minister for Sport in his attempts to bring top-class events to Darwin.
The government has increased funding to many peak sports bodies and active recreation bodies, including Hockey NT, netball, Football Federation Northern Territory, Boxing Northern Territory and gymnastics, by 50%. This is an additional ongoing $1.75m, bringing total funding of about $5.6m to 59 peak sporting bodies and active recreation organisations. Some of those organisations involve many seniors from our community.
The Sport minister is working hard to provide alternative accommodation for the badminton clubs. Again, many older people engage in that activity.
I am pleased to see, in my schools in the northern suburbs, the success of the sport vouchers. This sees about $4m each year invested in making participation in sport more accessible. Every child wanting to participate in a sport has an opportunity to do so with the $75 voucher. As I said, when I was growing up there were things I could not do. I am glad we are able to help young people get into sports they otherwise might not have been able to. The vouchers are for all government and non-government school children to sign up or try sport without normal significant financial outlay for fees and uniforms to parents.
The positive feedback I have received from my schools – I sit on quite a number of school councils – is that it is gratefully accepted. The feedback from local sports clubs that have been availing themselves of the vouchers is that junior registrations have increase this year. There is also an increase in parents and families paying their club fees up-front with the assistance of the sport vouchers.
The most popular sport so far this year using the vouchers has been soccer. The FFNT advised it had an 8.5% growth because of the school vouchers. We have seen similar increases in netball, basketball, rugby league and tennis. What a great result! This is about getting young people off the streets or sitting around in parks, possibly exposing themselves to danger and trouble, and getting them into sport. A figure of 8.5% is a significant increase.
Of course, the Northern Territory government delivered on an election commitment of $300 000, as part of the joint $1.8m project with the federal government, to upgrade the Jingili BMX circuit. My colleague, the minister for Sport, went into that in great detail. The covered circuit is the first of its kind in Australia. It is great to see these things happening, especially in the northern suburbs, where we have lots of young people always looking for something to do. To watch some of these young people – the effort and skill they put into their sport is magnificent.
I had the great fortune to attend the surf rescue championships held in Darwin. It was a fabulous event to watch. There were so many young people not only having a great time, but providing a fantastic service to our community.
Our local surf lifesaving club does a fantastic job of not only providing lifesaving services on Mindil Beach and Casuarina, at their headquarters, but at Nhulunbuy they compete in interstate championships. People might think it interesting to have surf lifesaving in crocodile-infested waters; however, they do a fabulous job of patrolling our beaches, setting up flags, opening and closing beaches and training young people who they refer to as their ‘nippers’. It is a fabulous organisation, along with many others in the sport and recreation field. They do a fantastic job of training our young people.
Going back to the BMX track, this facility has the backing of the International Cycling Union and will provide opportunities to develop relationships with the fast-growing BMX race scene, not only in Australia, but across Asia, China and Japan. It is becoming a huge event in Southeast Asia and Australia, and we will have one of the few covered tracks where you can train and participate year round. The Northern Territory has produced national champions in BMX, and this new all-weather circuit will greatly assist in producing many more champions in the future. Jake Tunney from Darwin was a world champion BMX rider. He was born and bred in Darwin, travelled the world, put up some serious business in the BMX sport and brought home many trophies. Congratulations to him.
Just up the road from that facility is the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre. The Northern Territory government provided $2.5m with a total construction price of $15m. Works are in progress. The centre proposes to build on the success of the NT Thunder football team. We have a group of people, especially Michael Long, dedicated to developing our youth. You do not necessarily need a career in football and it does not matter where you start, once you get involved – we find young people move from one sport to another – to be involved in something when you are young which leads you to pursue it as a lifelong hobby or career, or just learn about self-respect and the capacity building sport engenders in young people. Without government investing wisely in this area we are challenged to get our people to look at team building, self-esteem and self-respect. My colleague, the minister for Sport, is working extremely hard to provide these services to the maximum number of young people in the Territory.
The NT Thunder football team stands on its own record; I do not need to say too much about it. Most Territorians know what a fantastic team it is.
The Michael Long centre’s annual residential training program will target young Aboriginal Territorians aged between 12 and 17 from selected remote communities in the Top End and Central Australia. The centre will be built on the northern edge of TIO Stadium at Marrara, which is currently leased by the Northern Territory government to the AFLNT for a period of 15 years from 2007, with two five-year extension options. This facility, in my electorate, will include residential accommodation for participants from remote communities, and staff and visiting teams and students. It has a gymnasium, a lap and rehabilitation pool, education space, music and art space, admin areas, function rooms, lecture theatres, dining rooms, kitchens, secondary accommodation to be made up of a small demountable, multipurpose rooms, and all associated equipment and fittings that go with a training facility of this nature. Tenders for the construction of this academy closed on 23 September 2013, with works expected to commence late November this year.
Extra funding of $1.2m has been provided by this government to the Palmerston Water Park and Leanyer Recreation Park, taking the total funding to about $4.2m to meet operational costs, something the previous government did not provide.
Thirty-two sporting organisations across the Territory will benefit from the 2013 facility and equipment capital investment. These are fantastic initiatives. The program is open to all Territory clubs, groups and peak sporting bodies, recreational organisations and service deliverers, as well as shire councils. Each organisation could apply for maximum grant of about $50 000 a year.
The South Darwin Rugby League Football Club will receive $16 000 to upgrade shade structures and irrigation works under this program. The Police and Citizens Youth Club will receive $50 000 to upgrade the office block at the Wongabilla Equestrian Centre which takes young people who cannot afford a horse and gives them the opportunity to develop a relationship with the animal world and learn self-discipline, self-respect and capacity building. The police do a fantastic job at Wongabilla. I hope they see the value in it and support it, along with what they do with their horses and Riding for the Disabled.
Many young offenders go there, some of whom have never built relationships with people let alone animals, and find it rewarding. The success rate of young people learning how to interact not only with people but with the animal world is quite high.
We also saw the successful 32nd AFL Masters National Carnival here last week, which attracted about 1500 people. The government ensured the event was held here with $30 000 in funding as well as in-kind support. That function injected about $4m into our community. I was fortunate to attend the presentation evening at the Convention Centre. There were many big kids there and it was an amazing night. My mother always said never let the child in you die because that is when you get old. There were not many old people there! There were many big kids and blokes who play footy; it was a blokey night. They had a great time and, as I moved around the tables speaking to people and getting feedback, the Territory did extremely well. We won one of the age events – the first time we had won anything. The Territory senior football players did us proud and a good night was had by all. It will be in Adelaide next year, and the Territory teams said they would be there for the event.
When we look at investment in sport, these things create a positive environment. There were 850 people at that dinner and all had a great time. The feedback I received was not only about the physical injuries they suffered – there was a lot of Dencorub – but they had been to Crocodylus Park, Adelaide River, and other places. They had availed themselves of many tourist facilities and attractions. It was great to see that not only did they come to play football and have a good time, but they were out with their partners, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, kids – the whole lot. To have 1500 people at one event, moving around the Top End, is great to see.
Some people ask why we spend money on this. The money is the spin-off from the investment which goes through the community. Some of those people were here for two weeks, and $4m over that time is a good spend and a wise investment by any government to create these events.
I was fortunate to attend the greyhound championships several months ago. It was pretty pumped out there; it was a good night. The dogs were racing, the crowd was there, and there was an air of excitement. If you have never been to the greyhounds and like a bit of racing, I suggest you get out to Winnellie Park. Not only will you see some fantastic racing, you will also see some of the improvements made there. You can sit back, relax, have a glass of wine with a beautiful dinner and watch the races from the air-conditioned lounge. It is a great night. We believe $800 000 to ensure the ongoing viability of greyhound racing in the Northern Territory is well spent. The improvements made there are fantastic.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time for the member for Sanderson to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that. The additional $230 000 in 2013 allowed the Darwin Greyhound Association to maintain its prize money and entice more interstate visitors, leading to more runners. I witnessed Darren McDonald, a top Victorian trainer and a member of Greyhound Australia’s Hall of Fame, take out the Darwin Greyhound Cup for his dog, ‘Take it All’. I was there for that race and saw it take it all. It was fantastic fun for the family, and there is also a kids’ play area.
The government is trying to promote family-friendly facilities around the Territory: football matches, the greyhounds, even Darwin Turf Club is a great day for the whole family. You can dine reasonably cheaply, and you can have a great day. There is a bit of excitement. There are nice places to make friends and have a good time. When we talk about sport and active recreation, it is about ensuring Territorians participate in sports and keep active. Active people are normally happy, healthy people.
It is with great pleasure I support my colleague, the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing, in his excellent presentation of what we are doing in the sport and recreation activity areas. I commend his statement. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I also support of my colleague’s statement on Sport and Recreation. You can see we have come a long way in the last 12 months and have supported a vast range of sporting clubs, associations and endeavours. It is no surprise Palmerston people love sport, and it was excellent to see both the Palmerston Raiders and the Palmerston Football Club had teams win grand finals recently, which is always exciting in our community.
We are going into the AFL season and the Palmerston Magpies are revving up for a big season ahead. They have a new coach and a new president and are moving forward with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. Best of luck to them.
I am pleased our government has taken a responsible approach to investing in sport, and I pick up on the comments of the member for Fannie Bay who said sporting organisations are, to some extent, one-eyed – their club needs the money and their cause is more deserving than others.
It is a difficult area because people who love sport really love sport and really love their club. We have taken a measured approach and have done some good deals which have value for Territorians. I will talk about some of those as I continue.
We have secured Parramatta, a value for money deal, and that is what we have to do. We have a duty to Territorians. We are not in the best fiscal position, everyone knows that. I will not harp on about it, but we have continued a high level of service delivery to Territorians, continued to provide quality clubs and games to be played in the Northern Territory. We fought hard for the best possible deal.
I watched the Palmerston Raiders when the Gold Coast Titans were in town several months ago. A local boy, Sam Irwin, who used to be best friends with my younger cousin, now plays for the Gold Coast Titans. This year he came as one of the rising stars of the club, and it was special to see the Titans significantly engaging with Palmerston Raiders. That is what value for money is about. It is not just about the best dollar value, but what you get for it. The Gold Coast Titans did an excellent job with all the camps they ran. You could see this thrill on the little Raiders’ faces as they got to play, interact and learn from the Gold Coast Titans. It was particularly exciting – I was swept up in the enthusiasm – when the Titans sat along a very long table and the kids got to line up and take all their balls, flags and bits and bobs along and have everyone sign them. There were fantastic photo opportunities.
It received quite good media coverage, so it was a great thing for Palmerston Raiders, and they appreciated the visit. Things like that are invaluable on so many levels. My colleague, the minister for Sport, is looking at people who want to visit and give back to our community, which is very important.
The minister has also done a fantastic deal with the Adelaide United National Youth League team. As patron of the Palmerston Football Club, soccer is becoming a bigger part of my life – I never thought it would. Politics does wonderful things to you and brings you into areas you might never have known.
My colleague, the member for Fong Lim, said earlier he is probably the only parliamentarian in this Chamber who played sport. We said, ‘No, the member for Wanguri plays sport’. The rest of us are a little lacklustre.
The Palmerston Football Club is excited about opportunities like this. For young people to see that career progression, the opportunities and that something is achievable if you work hard is invaluable. We cannot ask for more than to provide clear pathways for young Territorians. It was such a critical deal to sign. If you talk about value for money, $150 000 for two seasons really will deliver bang for buck. The young ones at Palmerston Football Club will, going into next season, have a new focus and will feel they can reach out and touch something achievable.
You do not get that role modelling, the career path or the mentoring opportunities unless you have real contact with high-level sport. It is brilliant we have managed to secure that. Football Federation Australia reported 3124 registered players in the Northern Territory. From the intelligence we have, when deals like this are signed, registrations are boosted. With the combination of the Adelaide United agreement and our $75 Sport Voucher, I expect to see another boost in junior player registration going into next season, which we are ready for and looking forward to.
We also spoke about the substantial benefits of sport to the Northern Territory economy through tourism. I attended the BMX NT titles last week and weekend and was selling raffle tickets with one of the committee members. So many people were saying to us, ‘I cannot buy a raffle ticket because if I win the bike how will I get it down south?’ Andrea and I assured everyone we could work out a transport deal if they won just so we could sell more tickets. It shows you how passionate people are about their sport and how far they will go to participate in it, be a spectator and follow their team, club, son, daughter, or friend and family.
We have talked at length about the Sport Voucher Scheme. In my experience, in Palmerston it has been a tremendous success. I remember, probably part way through the year, doing some media with Palmerston Power Basketball Club. They were so enthusiastic about the sport voucher that they approached me saying they had a 30% increase in junior registrations they could directly attribute to the voucher. That is enormous. Using the sport voucher, parents could pay for the whole year up-front, which covers two basketball seasons. If you talk about value for money, parents are able to enrol their child in basketball for two full seasons.
It was great not only for Palmerston Power with an increase in registrations, but it was excellent for their balance sheet because normally they struggle getting people to pay. People pay in instalments, or they are chasing up between season gaps with all the administrative nightmares clubs and organisations go through. The sport voucher meant not only did they have an increase in numbers, but they were getting full payment up-front. They could not have spoken more highly of it, and to me that was the proof in the pudding.
Palmerston Football Club experienced the same thing. If parents enrolled their child in football this year they were only $5 out-of-pocket. This, again, is a huge incentive to give young people a go. Little ones, when trying out sport or dance, might not necessarily like it and it is hard for parents to make enormous financial commitments to registration fees, uniforms, shoes and the rest of it.
Using those two Palmerston clubs as an example, the sport vouchers put a huge dent in any burden on parents and, in some cases, made it very little burden at all.
The voucher scheme is still going. This year all government and non-government schoolchildren were eligible, and that will be the case next year, which is fantastic. For those 30 000-odd parents who have not used their school sport voucher, Wet Season sports are now coming online. Please do not hesitate to sign your child up before 30 November so you can reap the benefit of that government initiative.
Last Friday night I attended the Territory Thunder presentation evening. It was amazing to be in that room. It was preaching to the converted because the room was full of players, wives, spouses, coaches and people affiliated with Territory Thunder, but it was special to see the pride and ethos of that club. Every speaker, every individual who received a reward – and there were numerous awards and presentations – had a degree of cohesion amongst them. The things they were saying all flowed one from the other so you could see they had a very clear ethos in their club, clear standards, clear boundaries and clear goals, just like the Country Liberals.
What really struck me – we are talking about the amount of money we put into sports, facilities, upkeep, all those things, and it is an enormous government, sponsor, and volunteer contribution – it is not all one-sided. The retiring coach of Territory Thunder, Daniel Archer, said in his speech that in the Northern Territory people love AFL, they go crazy for AFL. No matter where you go, the farthest flung remote community, Darwin or Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, people love AFL. However, what many Territorians have not yet come around to is that love and passion for Territory Thunder. He told everyone in the room it was their mission to be Territory Thunder’s greatest advocate because it is a cultural change and, over time, Territorians will love them as much as they love AFL and will see Territory Thunder as they see AFL.
That was incredibly powerful and so true. I was speaking with Jarred Ilett, CEO of Territory Thunder, who was saying that between 20 and 25 Thunder players have gone on to play AFL. Not all have succeeded, not all have wanted to continue down that path, but that is not too bad. It was amazing, and if we can continue to grow and harness this young talent and send them off to the Australian stage or the world stage we have done a good thing. If we are not backing local we should be. It is everyone’s responsibility to be part of a community and help foster that community. Territory Thunder is an important part of the fabric of the Northern Territory and will continue to grow. However, we must be cognisant of the fact they need our support, and everyone’s support is highly valued.
The Northern Territory government, in conjunction with the new federal government, was able to deliver a $1.8m project to upgrade the Jingili BMX circuit. When I was speaking to Andrea at Satellite City BMX Club over the weekend she said how amazing the roof would be. It is difficult for them in Palmerston because they only get to use the facility for half the year. The Palmerston facility is brilliant. I can see how they would want a roof. Minister, if there is a spare $1.8m lying around anytime soon, Satellite City BMX Club in Palmerston will put their hands up for it.
I thank Natasha Griggs, member for Solomon, because she lobbied her colleagues very hard to bring in $1.5m out of the $1.8 for Jingili BMX. They must be eternally grateful to her, particularly as it is the only covered BMX track of its kind in the country.
Satellite City BMX Club, whilst they would love $1.8m, did not go away empty-handed. We have committed $300 000 to the club for minor new works. The racetrack has been upgraded and looks fantastic, and they are happy with the outcome. The remaining funding will go towards the new clubhouse, canteen, and toilet block amenities. Those works should be completed by October 2014, so there are plenty of good things on the horizon for Satellite City BMX. They just held the largest Northern Territory titles in history with over 300 riders. It is a credit to the committee to pull off such a spectacular event, and for the pride they show in their club. They really deserve this funding. I look forward to seeing the facilities once they are completed.
Our government has made an enormous commitment to motor sports and upgrades to Hidden Valley are well-known in our community. You do not have to be a racing fanatic to appreciate investment and infrastructure like that. There is no question the V8s bring many people to the Northern Territory. It is a well-staged and spectacular event.
Scratching a little deeper and at the local level, it was brilliant to see Gray Primary School, Sacred Heart Primary School, Good Shepherd Lutheran College, and Driver Primary School attend the Friday lunch which the Chief Minister hosted for primary school children. There was not much happening that day in racing, but the excitement for those kids to be there and be part of something as huge as the V8s was amazing. It caused me to reflect on when the V8s first came to Darwin. I remember my dad took Thursday off work and took me and my sister to the track to see what the phenomena of V8s was all about. I will always remember that. I am not sure if we went back any time after that, but it was an amazing thing. It is part of the Northern Territory calendar and I am pleased our government has continued to support such a major event.
Regarding Palmerston Water Park, it is amazing in this day and age that the then Labor government could build an outdoor water facility without a scrap of shade cloth. It never ceases to amaze me what Labor did when in government. Anyway, we have sorted it out and put aside $200 000 to get that happening so mums and dads can enjoy sitting in the shade and the kids can enjoy playing in the shade. We have to be sun smart and responsible about these things. Comfort is always high on Territorians’ priority list. We know how hot it is during the build-up and the Wet. Even during Dry Season you cannot spend too much time in the sun. Those shade structures and the ongoing commitment to operational costing is very much appreciated by Palmerston residents.
The Palmerston Cricket Club was awarded $50 000. As the minister said, it had resorted to stringing up old fishing nets, but now they can buy new nets which they are in desperate need of. They very much appreciate that money going towards enhancing their facility.
In short, there is a lot happening in Palmerston, and a lot happening in the Northern Territory. I am proud of the work the minister and our government have done. We are focused in this area, and have delivered great value for money and this will continue to enhance and be improved upon over our term of government. The proof will certainly be in the pudding.
I commend this statement to the House.
Mrs PRICE (Community Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Racing for his statement regarding his portfolio. I congratulate him on his work so far, and it is great to hear all the Giles’ government achievements in this area, despite the constant negativity of those opposite. We are kicking a whole lot of goals.
I would like to speak about my electorate of Stuart and how important sport and recreation is for my constituents and my people.
AFL is the sport communities know how to play, what they look forward to, and what people in the bush think is important. It is important, and I would like to see more of it happening in the smaller communities. My daughter, who spent some of her time in Darwin, introduced female football during the Alice Springs footy season. It has been going great so far, and we have had a huge amount of interest. Many female football teams have developed and grown out of that. It encourages and strengthens relationships with national sporting bodies which provide pathways for our talented children and young adults to get to the top of their sport. I am very strong about focusing on children and young adults in regional remote Northern Territory. It allows them opportunities they would not normally see: things like money, education, material possessions, recognition and appreciation for their abilities. It also gives them a deeper appreciation of their culture and the challenges facing Northern Territory communities and homelands.
We need to work more with people who have made it big in their sports, and take them back to their communities to give our kids a sense of hope and future. We need to show them they can make it big if they stay out of trouble, work hard, train hard, do well at school and look after their families. This is an opportunity to break the vicious cycle that grips Aboriginal people and our communities, the cycle of welfare, pornography, family and personal violence, a sense of hopelessness, no direction, and nothing for their children or their future.
I have contacted Eddie McGuire to encourage him to visit Yuendumu, because Yuendumu is the place of the magpies and they support Collingwood Magpies. I made contact with him to see what he could do for the small community and discuss the plans I have to create footy academies for kids in remote communities. Our remote communities are often bypassed. Our kids in remote communities suffer because they are not given the opportunity to perform or be seen as talented sportspeople. I want more talented young people to expose their abilities and skills outside their communities so they can get recognition instead of living off welfare. I want to see these young people grow up to be strong future leaders of our people. If sport is the way to get them out of this situation, this government is doing it. The statement from the minister goes a long way to make that change, create that challenge for our people in remote communities and make things better for them.
These academies are important in ensuring kids can cope by giving them life skills. This is important because of people like Liam Jurrah, a young brother to me from my community of Yuendumu who played for Melbourne Demons. He had great opportunity, it was there for him, but what he had to go through made it very difficult for him. However, if there is an opportunity for a child in these remote communities to get up there with everybody else, why not make it happen? Why not give them that opportunity? Why not let them believe they are as equal as everybody else? They are as equal as Usain Bolt, they can make a difference. If this government can create that environment for them, we can have Usain Bolts from Yuendumu, Nyirripi, Baniyala, the Tiwis, anywhere. We have that in the Northern Territory. Why can we not create that for them? Our minister is opening up that opportunity for our kids in remote communities.
Liam is the sad story of a very talented footballer who, in my view, did not cope with the clash of coming from a remote community and playing football at a top level. We need to support these talented kids and give them better opportunities to succeed. I would like to work with the minister to see these academies rolled out across the areas to identify and grow our talented sports kids and give them the tools to succeed.
Think of how many successful Territorian kids are out there already in the top level of their sport, and imagine if we could double or even triple that. The possibilities are there, the Territory is a great breeding ground for top sportspeople. It is great to see the minister and the Giles government keen to see that continue.
The sport vouchers are a great tool and a demonstration of a commitment to Territory kids and families. While there are some teething problems, the response was overwhelmingly positive, and I hope they continue next year, minister.
I would also like to talk about the Parramatta Eels and the Strong Men, Strong Leadership program to identify and develop Territory men and provide them with strong role models using Parramatta players. As minister for men’s policy, I look forward to working with you, minister Conlan, to implement and grow this program.
There is an opportunity to use AFL clubs like Collingwood and the Melbourne Demons to build similar programs across the Territory. These programs are critical if we are to change cultures and get our Territory men to take a stand against domestic and family violence across the Territory. These role models will give Territory boys and men someone to identify with, to watch, and to learn from and listen to. Some people ask why sportsmen as role models. They are disciplined and have gone through many years of hard work and training. They have survived injuries and disappointments, even sports politics and a range of other issues, and made it to the top. As well, many of those sportsmen have great personal characteristics which support their sporting careers for our young men to observe and copy.
These programs can and should be linked to men’s finance, violence, health, and education programs to give our men the complete all-round package to help them succeed and become role models for future Territorian males.
I look forward to further discussions and talks with my colleagues about how we can work together to not only make sports in the Northern Territory successful, but also develop, grow and give our Northern Territory kids and men the ability to succeed at sports and life.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister on his statement.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Mrs LAMBLEY (Health): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, tonight in adjournment I want to wish Vic Ludwig a very happy 85th birthday. I tried to call you earlier today but have the wrong number because it did not go through. I have been thinking about you all day. Best wishes.
It has been amazing knowing you over the last few months following the sad passing of Sadie. Since then you have been a breath of fresh air coming into the electorate office. I know Angie enjoys having you around, you are a good person, incredibly well-mannered, and we love it when you pop in. I was thinking about what I could get for your birthday and I thought I would stick to my commitment of having Angie transcribe those 30 hours of your life history slowly over the next 12 months. Perhaps we will have it finished by your next birthday, although I am not 100% sure. Your humour is always so refreshing, you are so innovative for someone as experienced and senior as you are, and it is an absolute pleasure to have you around. The Calder branch is a better place for having you in it. I will ensure I have that steak ready at my next community barbecue because I know you will be there sniffing around looking for it. I will ensure I have it this time, and I apologise for only having sausages at the Territory Day barbecue. I know you were very disappointed about that.
On another note, the Palmerston Markets are majorly ramping up for their 25 October Halloween dress up party. It will be an enormous spectacular. The committee has put a huge amount of effort into it and there will be prizes and dress up. All the stallholders are encouraged to dress their stalls in Halloween theme and get involved. Renee from the markets, and her entire committee, work tirelessly to run the markets every single Friday night and the grand finale is really going to go off. She is shooting around Palmerston tomorrow so be watching your TV screens, you will not be able to escape it. If anyone is at a loose end on 25 October I encourage you to come to the Palmerston Markets; it will be a spectacular grand finale and I hope everyone throws themselves in to dressing up and getting in theme for the evening.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, this evening I update the House on the first quarter’s activities in the alcohol mandatory treatment system. At the outset, it has been a very busy, very challenging and, ultimately, very rewarding first three months.
As I update the House on this program, the success of this program, even in its early stages, is an example of the difference in approach between the Country Liberals government and the former Labor government.
This government’s alcohol mandatory treatment initiatives are helping people to help themselves and providing them an opportunity to change their lives. The previous government tried to solve the problem by punishing every Territorian and treating everyone in the community the same. The success of the alcohol mandatory treatment initiative would indicate treating people as individuals works, punishing communities does not.
The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act commenced operation on 1 July 2013. Assessment and treatment services are in operation in Darwin, Nhulunbuy, Katherine and Alice Springs. The first patient was admitted to an assessment service on 12 July 2013. The trigger for referral to the alcohol mandatory treatment system is three protective custodies for alcohol intoxication within a two-month period.
There have been 101 people referred to the alcohol mandatory treatment system during the first quarter of its operation. That is, 101 people taken from the revolving door of police protective custody and referred to a health system focused on supporting their health and alcohol addiction needs. This is a remarkable achievement, and I applaud all those contributing to the system’s success – the police, the watch house nurses and staff, the assessment service clinicians and staff, the tribunal members and registry, and the treatment service providers, especially the staff of the medi-hotel in Darwin, Vendale in Katherine, and CAAAPU in Alice Springs.
The Northern Territory government is committed to providing information on this important program in an honest and transparent way. We are also committed to ensuring client confidentiality, and that professionalism and integrity of the many hard-working staff within the system is maintained. That is why the government has implemented a balanced process whereby reports on the alcohol mandatory treatment system are made available online every quarter.
This afternoon, the first quarterly report went up on the Department of Health’s website. That report provides a breakdown of the 101 people referred to the mandatory treatment system and their progress through the system as at 30 September 2013. On that date the Darwin numbers were as follows: six people were in assessment; 28 people were in treatment; four people were back in the community being supported by after-care plans; and 12 people had been given a release order by the tribunal or released without an order. In Katherine, three people were in assessment; nine people were in treatment; two people had been given a release order by the tribunal or released without an order; and one person was assessed with no order made. In Alice Springs, six people were in assessment; 24 people were in treatment; and six people had been given a release order by the tribunal or released without an order.
This is a great start to our alcohol mandatory treatment system. The government has been very open and honest with the community and stakeholders about our expectations for this policy. We have also been open about the challenges in implementing this new health program – challenges, I believe, diligent departmental tribunal and non-government organisation staff have worked hard to address and should be applauded for.
For years, Labor talked about implementing mandatory rehabilitation. It took a change of government for something to be done and the alcohol mandatory treatment policy to be put in place. It is now starting to gain momentum. Most clients are now taking an active interest in their own healthcare, requesting follow-up with doctors for chronic disease management and women’s health checks. Several clients have requested and received assistance with getting work when they are out of the program and on their after-care program. Several clients have talked about moving to voluntary residential treatment post-release from the alcohol mandatory treatment program as part of their after-care. This recognition and desire to improve themselves by continuing to access services is strongly supported by the Northern Territory government.
The alcohol mandatory treatment service has been able to coordinate multidisciplinary care for its patients including dental services, podiatry, and specialist outpatient clinics which have been welcomed and contribute to improved health outcomes.
The client group is one of the most demanding in the health system, but the service is positively engaging with the majority of referred patients, and offers them the chance to break the cycle of alcohol dependence. It is already clear our alcohol management treatment system has significant power to change and improve people’s lives. Clients in our system have often spent a long time on the fringes of society and have only sporadically come into contact with health and other support services. Now in our system they are, for the first time or the first time in a very long time, receiving the healthcare and other care they require. Ours is a compassionate and considerate system which has the broad support of many in the community. Over time, the sensationalism and doomsday rhetoric of the scheme’s opponents will be seen for what it is. The proof we have the right policy will be shown as more people are referred into our treatment system to the benefit of them, their family, and the wider community.
I am also pleased to report I received some really good news that will go a long way to boosting our alcohol mandatory treatment system. I recently wrote to the federal Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews, congratulating him on his appointment and seeking his support for income management powers to be provided to the Northern Territory’s Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Tribunal. Today, I received word from minister Andrews confirming he supports the Northern Territory’s Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Tribunal receiving income management powers. The swift action displayed by the new federal Minister for Social Services clearly displays the positive change of direction in Canberra. I would like to congratulate minister Andrews for his no nonsense approach who, unlike his Labor predecessor who put politics ahead of policy, will ensure our tribunal gets the powers it need.
This decision means the tribunal has additional powers to tailor individual solutions to individual problems. People appearing before our tribunal may receive up to 70% of their Centrelink funds through the BasicsCard system. The BasicsCard can be used to buy most things except excluded goods and services. These include: alcohol; pornography; tobacco and tobacco products; gambling products; gambling services; home brew kits and home brew concentrate. Further information about the Commonwealth’s income management system can be found on the Department of Human Services website. Providing income management powers will expand the tools available to the tribunal and, therefore, increase the number of people who benefit from their contact with our alcohol mandatory treatment system.
I look forward to providing future updates on this revolutionary program for many quarters to come.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for Health for her report. I will be interested to follow that up in Hansard. As I said before, I support the program but will also be keeping an eye on it. When I get a chance, I will look at the facilities because, as the minister knows, that is the part I had concern with.
The make or break issue will be follow-up of those people once they leave the facility? Will there be a way to track them and find out if their lives are permanently changed, or at least changed for a reasonable length of time? Thank you for your report, minister. It is good to hear you have income management as that will also help.
I want to talk about something that has been mentioned several times in parliament. I raise it because it needs more discussion. The minister has been talking about leases and mentioned Wadeye today. I support the possibility of Aboriginal people owning their houses. To rely on the government to supply all the houses Aboriginal people need is impractical. People should have the same choice as everyone else to purchase their own home. What concerned me was the minister said land was being released at Wadeye for about $240 000. That is a lot of money for a block of land in Darwin, and you have a fairly high income group of people there.
If you have $240 000 as the base for a block of land in Wadeye – we know SIHIP houses cost over $450 000 – you are looking at $700 000 for a house and land package. I am unsure how successful that will be. That is a lot of money and you would need to be on a high income, even a dual income, to buy a house and land package at Wadeye if that was the case. I am interested in the process at Wadeye. For instance, if it is a lease can anyone purchase a house at Wadeye, or is it just for Aboriginal people living in the community?
Is the Chief Minister saying to improve economic development in places like Wadeye land will be sold to people outside the community and they can build a house in the community if they wish? Not much was explained about what release of land at Wadeye meant. I am concerned you can say it is great, but if it means a house and land package around $700 000, that is a fairly large amount of money to pay back on a moderate income.
The minister also mentioned roads and the government improving roads into parts of Arnhem Land. He basically said they are looking at ways to develop the economy in remote areas. I understand and agree with that sentiment. One issue which has not been looked at, and was not resolved by the previous government, is who owns the roads. This is an ongoing issue which needs clarification. If the roads are private it is not for government to fund them. There needs to be some work done on establishing public roads and private roads. If the government or the local council was to maintain a road on a cattle station, there would be a hue and cry because they would say it is not the role of government or local government. To maintain roads on Aboriginal land the same rule should apply. If you want to develop an area you have to get the foundations of that development right.
There have been many discussions about leases on Aboriginal communities. There is a 99-year lease at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. A number of other places have leases. However, if access to those communities is prohibited because they are subject to permits because the roads are private, you wonder if you will get the development the government is promoting. It would nice to hear the government’s policy on development of public roads to a number of Aboriginal communities. In many cases they were in growth towns, but the new government has a new name for them because they want to put a different emphasis on what is happening there.
I am interested in the government’s view on the Labor policy of government facilities paying a lease on Aboriginal land. I have no problem if Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonalds want to put something in a community which requires a lease payment for their commercial premises. The government puts in facilities like schools, aged care facilities, police stations and powerhouses to benefit the community at some cost, and maintains those facilities and pays people to work in those facilities, and is then told they have to pay rental based on the UCV value of the land.
During the last Estimates Committee we received a list of those payments. It is quite considerable. It is not the same on every community; there is no flat rate per school or per police station. This is an illogical approach, originally from the Labor government, to the way we develop facilities on Aboriginal communities. Those facilities are there for the benefit of Aboriginal people – the schools, hospitals, aged care, power houses – and you spend that money for the benefit of the people there. It is not a commercial benefit. Someone puts out their hand and says, ‘Thank you very much, here is the bill’. If someone wants to take over those facilities the government should allow it. They can pay wages, pay for maintenance, and pay for the facilities because they are put there at taxpayer expense. They are not there for profit; they are there for the benefit of the people.
The federal government at the time might have argued it helps the economy in those communities, but it is a false economy. I do not expect the school in my area to be paying a UCV value for use of the land because it is a public facility for the benefit of the community. That same logic should apply on those communities. There should be a lease and rental, and it should be a peppercorn rental. The lease recognises the facilities are on Aboriginal land, recognises there is a payment, but being a peppercorn rent it recognises the facility is there for the benefit of the community not the commercial interests of the government.
I would like to know what the Northern Territory government thinks of that. Will they continue with that program? It will be a substantial amount of money and that is less money to develop other infrastructure which could be beneficial to those communities.
I wanted to raise those issues tonight. One is how the new blocks of land for sale at Wadeye work in practice, and what market the community is looking at to purchase the blocks. If you put a house on it, will it be too expensive? Also, the position of gazetted roads and public roads versus private roads, especially if the government is looking at developing remote communities, and the cost of government facilities in relation to the payment of leases on Aboriginal land.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I would like to inform the House of a great event I attended recently, the new Vietnam display at East Point Military Museum. I would like to acknowledge the great work this museum does in preserving and explaining the history of Darwin.
I was privileged to have recently opened the new Vietnam display at the Darwin Military Museum. They have made great strides at East Point, not just in presenting another facet of our military history, but in preserving the physical aspects of what is there. The blending of the new over the top of the old is beautifully thought out and carefully represented.
To give you a picture of where this is, at the original gun emplacements at East Point there is a fence around what was the Block House. This was used for the coordination of the two 9.2 inch guns located at East Point during World War II. There is one gun emplacement, the Block House, and many sheds surrounded by a fence that is the Darwin Military Museum. Outside that area and a little further to the east is the second gun emplacement during World War II – two 9.2 inch guns.
Inside the fenced area is an intact gun, sadly without the original 9.2 inch guns. That, unfortunately, was taken away in 1963 for scrap metal, ironically to Japan. They have taken exhaust vents and not covered them, making them into display areas. They have covered over the three engine plinths – the base where the generators used to sit in the base and underground – of the 9.2 inch gun emplacement. You can still see the original mount. Sadly, those engines were taken away.
I do not know what it was about Darwin, but if you go to Rottnest Island in Western Australia you will find exactly the same type of gun emplacements, 9.2 inch guns and handling gear. They still have some of the original engines and associated electrics and hydraulics that were used to run the guns. On the walls are photographs of the engines once installed which turned and raised the giant gun. Of course, each of these guns had its own backup power system to provide electricity and hydraulic pressure.
We are making major advances in preserving Northern Territory military history. This place is unique. The northern half of Australia was under attack for two years, with enemy air raids pounding our cities and towns over 100 times. Only now, with the announcement of 19 February being a day of national observance – a credit to the federal member, Natasha Griggs – has the rest of Australia begun to realise the northern war is still largely unknown. I thank Natasha Griggs, the member for Solomon, for pushing this and getting it recognised as a day of national observance.
Only now are Australians flocking to see what has become a major Darwin tourist attraction, and awakening to the fact newly researched by the museum, which was hidden but not by censorship – the Top End’s military history was simply left out of school curriculum history books. Only now is our museum able to place itself as a premier attraction.
I recall driving around the gun emplacements when I came here 32 years ago as a young police officer, and there was a little museum called East Point Military Museum. It was humble in its beginnings, but it is fascinating to see what it looked like and what was there. My father was here during the war and said you were not allowed out there; you were not allowed to look at anything or take photographs. If you were caught out there you were court-martialled. Many of the old World War II veterans came back to Darwin and were able to look at some of the military installations that saw an enormous amount of battle during World War II.
I acknowledge some of the work done by volunteers and people who work at the museum. Sterling work was done over the past years by people like Jack Hayden, Maureen Moore, Neil Benton, John Johnson, Alan Ogden and many others. The Royal Australian Artillery Association today is led by Colonel Jeff Dunn OAM, and the Museum Director is Tom Lewis OAM. They, and many others, are working busily on the operation of the complex.
I give credit to Dr Tom Lewis, a man who is not only the director, but a naval military historian. He works tirelessly researching matters that can be displayed there. He has written about 16 books so far. He edits about four different magazines, and contributes to many other magazines, military and otherwise. Dr Tom Lewis is a major asset to the Northern Territory and, in particular, to our military history. He puts out some great books. I am lucky I have just about every book he has written. They are a fantastic, well-researched, well-presented and well-put-together history of what has occurred in Darwin military going back before World War II and, of course, some in recent times.
I mention also the elements of foreign nations we need to recognise. This is one of the few places in Australia to be a battlefield. Indeed, the site of many battles, commencing on 20 January 1942 when the I-124 submarine was sunk outside our harbour where she remains today. When you fly across to the Tiwi Islands on low tide with clear waters you can see the I-124 lying on the bottom of the ocean. There is a fantastic book Dr Tom Lewis wrote on the I-124. Sadly, time does not allow me to speak about that tonight.
The first American to be lost in combat was Lieutenant Robert Buel, shot down on 15 February in combat with a Japanese aircraft to our north. Many more Americans died. The memorial wall at the museum, an initiative proudly supported by this government, lists 121 members of the United States Navy, 311 members of the United States Army Air Forces, and 19 members of the United States Army. Many have never been found. Their remains lie beneath the waves or scattered far on our land.
Similarly, members of the Japanese forces lost their lives. They fought in honourable combat. They are also ours to protect in the same way Ataturk assured our nation our sons would be safe in Turkish soil after World War I and, of course, the battle of Gallipoli.
The museum director tells me they are researching the names of all World War II dead who fell in northern Australia and adjacent waters and lands. The museum’s memorial wall research is doing what no other institution in northern Australia has done: taking a holistic approach to the term, and embracing the stories of those who died in Western Australia and Queensland.
In summary honourable members, this government is committed to preserving the Northern Territory’s military heritage in dollar and deed.
There are new frontiers still to be conquered at East Point and Darwin Military Museum. They are leading the way and are all deserving of our support. It is important we remember history so we do not repeat it. It is important we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we could be free.
It is with great pride that I have been to Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula on two occasions, something I encourage all to do. It is the same pride I feel when I go to East Point Military Museum. I think and reflect when I am there, of those who served and fought for this country, those who died for our cause, safety and freedom, and those who came back with all types of other things. In previous and recent wars, those members of the services who reside in Darwin have done such a great job in fighting for peace and democracy. Thank you.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016