YEAR OF FAILURES FOR SCANDAL-PLAGUED GUNNER GOVERNMENT

Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, says 2021 has been jam-packed with scandals, stuff ups and slippery decisions by the Gunner Labor Government – and Territorians are the big losers.

“Barely a week has passed this year, without a sensational failure from this scandal-plagued Gunner Labor Government. From youth bail bungles, to disgracefully bad behaviour from Labor MLAs and staff as well as Commissioners, to the crippling health crisis, monumental budget blowouts and government wastage, as well as squandering taxpayers’ dollars and deliberately boycotting scrutiny.

“Michael Gunner wants 2021 to be remembered for his extreme stance on COVID, but his legacy is cemented in disgrace by crime, cocaine and cover-ups. The best Christmas gift Michael Gunner could give to Territorians is to resign.

POLICE & CRIME

After ignoring desperate pleas for help from victims of crime – both businesses and residents – for years, the Chief Minister finally bowed to crippling pressure from the CLP and the public to address the youth crime crisis. More than 4 million people viewed the A Current Affair ‘Anarchy in Alice’ which launched Labor’s crime failures onto the national stage.
The Gunner Government vows the ‘toughest ever’ youth bail reforms, and fails to deliver. The latest figures obtained through Opposition questioning show, in the Top End, 167 youths were charged with almost 400 crimes in the three months to the end of October, 2021. Of those 167 youths, 79 were already on bail at the time they were apprehended. That means almost half of the youths apprehended were allegedly repeat offenders.
Police attrition rates have more than doubled in just 12 months; Northern Territory Police Association 2021 Member Survey shows 88% of respondents are concerned with the retention rates of NT Police, 60% of respondents have applied or are considering applying for another job, and 64% of respondents state morale is low or very low.
Labor agrees to give teenage criminals a $35 million taxpayer-funded payout, and abandons victims of crime who are forced to wait, on average, three years for compensation. Opposition questioning in the June Estimates process revealed, in the nine months to March 2021, just $100,000 was recovered from offenders to pay victims of crime and government spent $10,000 on debt collectors to recoup that money.
In May, it was revealed children who have come into contact with Territory Families are being abused or neglected at a rate of three per day.
The latest NT crime statistics show, year on year to the end of September, that close to 8,800 people were victims of assault across the Territory, 5,550 domestic violence-related assaults were recorded and there were more than 4,300 alcohol-related assault victims.

“A CLP Government would return Youth Justice to Corrections so that Territory Families can focus on its core function – the care and protection of children. We will deal with recidivist offending by setting a presumption against bail for repeat adult and youth offenders, and reinstate breach of bail conditions as an offence for youths – which will have an immediate impact. As part of our alcohol policy reform, a CLP Government would scrap the minimum floor price and launch an immediate review of the Banned Drinker Register.”

BAD BEHAVIOUR

The Chief Minister orchestrates the cover-up of the Labor ‘Cocaine Sex’ Scandal, involving Labor Member for Blain, Mark Turner, and senior Labor staffer, Kent Rowe. He covers-up the story, he covers-up the investigation and in Parliament he covers-up the report into allegations the disgraced Labor MLA misled Territorians.
In February, the Gunner Government refused to investigate allegations of threats and intimidation by Labor staffer, Dheran Young, who was later endorsed as a Labor candidate for the Daly by election – towards the Member for Braitling, Joshua Burgoyne.
Allegations of verbal abuse and threats of physical violence against an Aboriginal woman by NT Treaty Commissioner, Mick Dodson, were swept under the carpet by the Treaty Minister, Selena Uibo. The NT Treaty Commissioner continues to collect his $290,000 salary despite losing the confidence of the Chief Minister.

“The hypocrisy of the Gunner Government is staggering. Labor Ministers, including Minister Uibo took part in the March4Justice, standing alongside women holding signs that said “Why Would She Lie?” yet have done everything in their power to keep allegations of bad behaviour out of the public eye. Labor is paying lip service to stamping out sexual harassment and violence against women, while desperately trying to cover-up its own failures.”

HEALTH & COVID

Despite two years to prepare for a COVID outbreak in the Territory, Labor has crippled our health system and Territorians continue to suffer from the Gunner Government’s lack of foresight, lack of spending and lack of action.
This year alone, Royal Darwin Hospital has experienced four Code Yellow critical bed and staff shortages, while 75% of elective surgeries at RDH have had to be cancelled or rescheduled.
Nurses are regularly working 18 hour shifts to cover staff shortages, including the 65 nurses who were sacked for not being fully vaccinated.
Labor rammed through legislation to strip the regions of local decision-making with a rewrite of the Health Services Act to centralise the Territory’s health services.
Crucial health services at Engawala, Yuelamu, Epenarra (Wutunugurra) and Ikuntji (Haasts Bluff) were slashed with some clinics closed or open just a few days a week.
There are multiple escapes from the Centre for National Resilience and Alice Springs quarantine hotel.
More than eight months on since the start of the vaccine rollout, only 35% of people living in remote communities in the Barkly, and 57% in Central Australia are fully vaccinated.
The Gunner Labor Government refused to back Territory businesses with industry-specific support packages to successfully implement Michael Gunner’s vaccine mandate.
In December, Labor is forced into an embarrassing backflip from the impractical and unworkable post-December 20 measures announced by the Chief Minister last week – but the damage has been done for many tourism operators across the Territory.

“Health Minister, Natasha Fyles, needs to admit she can’t oversee the management of the NT’s health system and Howard Springs. The Gunner Government’s primary focus should be on the health needs of Territorians. Residents in remote parts of the Territory deserve the same health service delivery as anywhere else in the NT and shouldn’t be disadvantaged because of the Gunner Government failures.

The CLP is focused on reversing the disastrous trends of alcohol-related harm and violence, and addressing Labor’s spectacular failures in law and order reform. We need to look beyond the NT’s COVID-19 response to address our longer term health issues, including managing chronic alcohol abuse, and the impact of violent crime – we can’t do that without adequate health staffing levels across the Territory.”

ECONOMY

In March, the Gunner Labor Government is caught out fudging figures, after the Auditor-General compared projected job creation from major projects in the Territory against actual jobs created.
The Chief Minister creates the highly-paid Major Projects, Investment and Infrastructure Commissioner roles, who have no legislative powers and cost taxpayers around $1 million a year, just in salaries. One of them, Jason Schoolmeester – a good mate of Michael Gunner – was parachuted into the role from the fifth floor. Prior to joining Michael Gunner’s political team, Mr Schoolmeester was the Executive Director with Investment Territory. So he has his old job back, with a new title and beefed up salary.
The Territory is ranked the worst performing economy in the nation for twelve consecutive quarters, according to CommSec’s State of the States report.
Michael Gunner announces a ‘debt ceiling’ of a whopping $15 billion, which isn’t a cap on debt or liabilities, but is cap on borrowings, minus finance leases – which actually gives the Gunner Government the green light to keep spending beyond its means.
In August, Labor pushes through the Statute Law Amendment (Territory Economic Reconstruction) Bill 2021 which is a box-ticking exercise to give the impression that Labor is addressing key recommendations of the Territory Economic Reconstruction Committee (TERC), when the reality is these changes will have no great impact and are merely housekeeping matters to tidy up a number of Acts and Regulations that have various anomalies.
The Chief Minister sacks 400 unvaccinated public servants and claims he’s using their salaries to offer the public sector a $10,000 bogus bonus. The reality is Michael Gunner hasn’t ‘saved’ any money from the loss of 400 public servants because he was paying for their wages on the credit card.
The Mid-Year Report also shows Michael Gunner is steering the NT towards a $10.7 billion debt in 2024-25, while the NT’s net debt to revenue ratio will rise from 106% in 2021‑22 to 153% in 2024‑25. The report also shows there have been no savings from ‘policy decisions’.

“The CLP has a plan to kick start the economy Labor has destroyed with mountains of red tape and private investment barriers. We would attract private investment with an Approvals Fast-Track Taskforce, the establishment of a Territory Coordinator to facilitate private investment and reform the way projects of economic significance are supported, and move away from Labor’s complicated hybrid mining tax model and implement an ad valorem royalty system to give certainty to the mining industry.

The CLP supports the ‘Plan for Budget Repair’ and would give public servants a pay rise of $1,000 per year. That’s real wages growth complete with superannuation and leave entitlements, which provides security and opportunity.”

BUDGET BLOW OUTS / ONGOING WASTAGE

A snapshot of Labor’s cost blow outs and government waste include:

In February, it’s revealed Labor blew the Garramilla Boulevard budget by $14 million.
The Myilly Point playground development balloons to $4 million, despite originally being budgeted for $2.7 million.
It’s also revealed that the underground car park at State Square cost Territory taxpayers more than $7 million than originally budgeted.
The demolition of the Chan Building blows out by $1 million – and the deadline is delayed by almost 12 months.
The average monthly maintenance bill for the $3 million Cavenagh Street shade structure is unveiled as more than $4,000.
$4.3 million for an Ernst & Young consultancy into Health’s COVID response, that ballooned into an extensive internal restructure of the NT Health department and has been referred to the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption for breaching procurement rules.

“How can Territorians trust the Gunner Government to manage any major project on time or on budget, when Labor oversees consistent and significant cost blow outs to projects on sluggish timeframes? It’s not hard to see why independent economist rank the NT economy dead last compared with all other states and territories: economic mismanagement is a trademark of this Government, with no plan to get us out of this budget black hole.

SCRUTINY FAILURES

In June, the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption releases a bombshell report which declares the process around a $12 million grant, approved by Labor Ministers, for the construction of a grandstand in Michael Gunner’s electorate as corrupt.
Natasha Fyles and Eva Lawler throw the Chief Minister under the bus as the person who brought the submission into Cabinet ‘under the arm’; no Labor Ministers attend any of the Territory racing carnival events – including the Chief Minister’s Cup and the Darwin Cup; Labor gags debate in Parliament around why it approved and signed the $12 million cheque.
Three days of sittings are scrapped from the August sittings due to a COVID lockdown and the Gunner Government refuses to reinstate those days.
In April, the anti-business Gunner Labor Government finally bullies Dan Murphy’s out of Darwin.
Labor uses every opportunity in Parliament to shut down debate, centralise control in an attempt to block all non-government MLAs from holding them to account.
The Gunner Labor Government deliberately blocks Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie – and the Deputy Chief Health Officer – from briefing the Opposition and Independents on the Chief Minister’s ‘road map’ for almost two weeks after Michael Gunner’s announcement.

“Territorians want and deserve a Government they can trust. An open, accountable and transparent Government is essential for this trust to work. Territory Labor believes in open, accountable and transparent Government. Territorians have the right to access Government information.”

– Opposition Leader, Michael Gunner, 2016

“The above extracts come from Michael Gunner’s ‘Trust and Integrity Reform’ pre-election pitch back in 2016. When you look at the state of the Territory under the Gunner Labor Government, the above statement is absolutely comical. Since the Gunner Government came to power it has done everything in its power to scrap scrutiny, duck and weave from accountability, cover up bad behaviour and hide it’s long list of blunders.

EDUCATION

A survey of Darwin kids finds a majority were more concerned about crime, and their personal safety, than how well they performed at school.
In August, the Education Union goes public with serious concerns about the safety of teachers and students in the remote community of Umbakumba, after reports of escalating violence and criminal damage in the community are ignored by Education Minister, Lauren Moss.
Minister Moss fails to make any public statement about a damning ICAC report into the misappropriation of $500,000 by the former principal of Milingimbi School.
In October, it’s revealed a recruitment process is underway for principals in at least 31 schools, including; Barunga, Peppimenarti, Tennant Creek Primary, Alpurrurulam and Lajamanu.
Labor releases its Education Engagement Strategy 2022-2031, which is little more than a glossy brochure full of buzz words without a comprehensive plan for implementation and no method of measuring its impact.

“The CLP supports community-led solutions to increase attendance rates because we recognise the stark difference between schools in Darwin, Gunbalanya, Borroloola, and Papunya. A CLP government would also bring back Truancy Officers, which were scrapped under Labor.

REPORT CARD

“The Gunner Government’s end of year report card is a firm FAIL. Let’s hope 2022 is a better year for us all because Territorians deserve better,” said Mrs Finocchiaro.

ENDS