THE NT GOVERNMENT AND HOW IT WILL TRAVEL

The NT Government had its first cabinet meeting in Alice Springs on October 6. This coincides with the opening of the Alice Springs masters Games. Michael Gunner is playing for one of the hockey teams in this games program. Labour has pledged not to be a ‘stranger’ to Alice Springs in terms of meetings and recognition. There is a backup meeting of the Cabinet on Friday 14th. This is ahead of the Legislative Assembly holding its first session since this government took office. The sittings start on Tuesday, October 18.

The NT Business Council is playing a ‘wait and see’ game, giving the government a little time to settle into its new role. Obviously, they don’t want business to go backward and are waiting to see what follow-up projects will succeed the construction of Inpex.

There is also a wait-and-see around the outcome of research into fracking in the NT. There is no end date for this research, and the moratorium will remain in place until it is completed. The thinking seems to be there will be fracking in limited geographical places and under very tight regulatory control. Either way, the government will be walking a tightrope in accommodating the needs of one group without overly jeopardising its relationship with the other.

The $1,000,000 fish tagging program is underway, and already two $10,000 fish have been caught. This is a carry-on of an initiative that commenced during the reign of the CLP Government. There are 100 fish tagged with $10,000 tags along with the big one.

Schools are already on the agenda. There have been solvency issues for Kormilda College and Warruwi Aboriginal School. The former has been granted $5.1 million and the latter $600,000 to see the boarding sections of both schools through until the end of the year. Where funding goes in 2017 remains to be seen. Government implies these monetary advances are loans against contingency funds and not grants.

Will Indigenous Residential Education work?

Meanwhile, following the previous government’s implementation of the Wilsons Report, Indigenous boarding options for secondary years are being pursued on a regional basis. This is about upping the ante in Katherine and Tennant Creek. It is also about the construction of a $17,000,000 boarding facility for the East Arnhem region. This is being built adjacent to the Nhulunbuy High School, where it is envisaged students will complete secondary education. The facility will board 42 students when full.

In an earlier life (during the 1970s), there was an East Arnhem Aboriginal boarding facility at Dhupuma, around 25 kilometres from Nhulunbuy. It operated for about ten years. Despite the best efforts of the Education Department, this secondary residential program was spectacularly unsuccessful early on. Bringing students together from different areas did not work well from the viewpoint of building and developing relationships. There were social problems, with students who were off-limits to each other ignoring these taboos. If students were offended, they were often suspended, with feeder communities not knowing of these transgressions until students concerned were shipped back to their families.

Will a new or revisited program, which the Labour Government will have to administer, work any better than earlier models? I do know that when meeting with Bruce Wilson (developer of the Wilson Report), he told me that my conversation and material about residential colleges in the past was news to him. One wonders whether revisiting the past will be more successful this time around.

Banned Drinkers Register

Alcohol is the number one problem for people in the NT. It is the major contributor to domestic violence and seems to be out of control. The CLP threw the BDR out and introduced Temporary Beat Locations (TBL’s) in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine. This meant that police were on duty outside hotel bottle shops during opening hours, turning away those not entitled to support the outlets with their patronage. This has taken police away from other duties. It has also driven many alcohol dependent persons into Darwin and Palmerston, where TBL’s do not operate. This has added to the numbers of ‘long grassers’ and homeless, by an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people. Alcohol is readily attainable, begging for money has increased, and ways of gaining procurement have been worked out.

The centres with TBLs in place want those retained, and the government has said this will be the case until BDR’s are fully operational.

Meanwhile, the issue for Darwin and Palmerston continues to manifest itself in everything from antisocial behaviour to break-ins.

Bit of a Paradox

The ALP Government, including the cabinet, is made up of relatively new people to politics. It will be interesting to see how they manage the affairs of the Territory from the top echelons of power, control, and organisation.

Taking account of the background that has influenced NT development would be wise: Whether that happens remains to be seen.

My suggestion would be that the government establish a group of long-term Territorians to reflect, from time to time, on policies being developed and directions the government is considering. I don’t think that should be a function that falls to advisers and those supporting the government from an occupational point of view.

The group would point to history, where proposed initiatives have been tried in the past and consolidated or discontinued for whatever reason.

The purpose of the group would be to offer a perspective on the issues under consideration. This organisation could help avoid the risk of going “over and over and over” old issues as if they were new.

The role of such a group would be for advice and information only and have nothing to do with policy setting at a government level.

Issues Confronted and Ongoing Matters the Government will be Facing

The discontinuation of NT Lifeline funding to its previous level is a matter that may have complications. Lifeline wanted $500,000 as a government contribution to maintain its services at previous levels. The government instead offered $200,000. The upshot is that the NT Lifeline office and operation have closed. Those seeking Lifeline support now go through to an interstate call centre, and matters are handled from there. This may have ramifications further down the track.

The John Elferink lawyer funding ‘shortfall’ with government being asked to contribute more to the original $57,000 originally allocated. Government is declining and with justification. Lawyers seem to think they should be funded for every day of the hearing. My view is that government has attached funding to when the legal support needs to appear, and that would only be when Mr Elferink is before the commission being questioned or giving evidence.

The replacement of Dr Bill Freeland, who was Chairman of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). He was invited to stay on the board in membership status. He declined the lessening of his role and has resigned from the Authority. He is the second head of a department or authority to elect to step down or be discontinued.

Movement of some CEO’s from one area to another—for instance, Ken Davies from the Department of Education to the Department of Families.

Those moves may be about promotion through talent recognition.

Revisitation of the re-zoning of the Kullaluck land to commercial and industrial, approved by outgoing minister David Tollner just before the August 27 election. The new minister for the portfolio, Lauren Moss, is being asked to reconsider this approval, either cancelling or reconfirming the original decision.

Defence expenditure is forecast to top $2 billion, most of it connected to the Australian/USA exchange of marines and other interactive initiatives. This may help overcome the forecast downturn in construction that will coincide with the major construction at Inpex finishing.

Royal Commission into Child Abuse (Gooda/Wright Commission) and forecast on both length of time and costs associated with its period of operation. At the moment, the commission has been given until the 3q1 March 2017 to report. The cost projection is $50,000,000, with 50% met by both the Australian and NT Governments on a 50/50 split. Commissioner Gooda is already suggesting that extra time might be needed to allow work to be completed. The Commission was set up in haste by the Australian Government in tandem with the NT in the last days of the Giles CLP Government.

Water reticulation in the Darwin and Palmerston hinterland is under scrutiny. Bores of a certain capacity must have meters fixed to them within the next few months. Landowners will meet the cost of fitting these meters. This is to scope the volume of water coming out of the ground. The worry is that, in time, this will change to the point where water users are required to pay for water extracted and used through bore pumping systems.

The Nhulunbuy Election result is being challenged, or could be challenged. Seven votes elected Mark Guluya; there is a question over his eligibility.

He was apparently still a member of the Milingimbi wing of the East Arnhem Shire Council and had not resigned before standing for election to the NT Assembly. The corollary is whether he had to resign or otherwise, which could bend around his status as a group member. Whether the matter has substance will be determined by tomorrow. As for seats in the Assembly, the ‘Sunday Territorian’ editorial said Labour do not need the extra seat, but they DO need the skills and capacity of Lynne Walker.

October 18 – 20 First Parliamentary Week for the New Government

There is a certain amount of ‘waiting with bated breath’ to see how the Gunner Government will go. I am sure the majority of people want it to succeed, but there will be others who would like to see doomsayers’ predictions come to pass.

The first day was one of pomp and ceremony. There were also protests related to Kormilda College and fracking issues. These rather clogged the opening day.

During the proceedings and speech giving, the new CLP Leader Gary Higgins apologised to the NT for the terrible performance of the outgoing government. He was able to say ‘sorry’ where that would have been beyond Adam Giles. Funny though, how all the remaining members of the CLP party fell in behind Giles, although in their innermost hearts, they would have known the government was heading for the best part of a wipe-out. Starting again will mean a lot of moving down a rough road.

Other matters coming to government attention concern the following issues.

* UBER

* Banned Drinkers Register

* Juvenile Justice issues

* Fracking (big time matter)

* Port Melville’s status.

The next sitting week of the Assembly is October 25 – 27.