Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I have never asked for 12 senators. That is not the issue. What I was attracted to, however, was the contribution of the member for Solomon this morning in this debate. He, like the member for Lowe, showed not only a lack of understanding of the processes that have been undertaken in this committee report but an absolute disdain for the people he represents. Not only did he say in his contribution that really the Northern Territory government was doing nothing, when in fact it is doing a great deal more than you—that is, the member for Lowe—care to tolerate or admit, but he said that this all comes out of the chief minister’s office. That is just not the case. You need to understand that there is a genuine interest in the community about addressing this particular issue over time. Not only is it totally uninformed; it just displays ignorance.

The member for Solomon raved on about one matter and one matter only, and that was the repatriation of the land rights act to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. Let me say to him, as he ought to know now, that the reason that the referendum failed on the last occasion was the potential desire of the then CLP administration to interfere with Aboriginal rights. If that is what the CLP wants in the Northern Territory, if that is what the government in this place wants—to somehow or another intervene and override the interests and rights of the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory in the way which is being proposed by the member for Solomon—then the next referendum will be defeated as well.

It is worth noting that the Northern Territory Statehood Steering Committee, which has been established and operating for some time under the auspices of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, has among its members a number of MLAs, including the CLP MLA Terry Mills. I have to say to Mr Mills that he ought to actually counsel the member for Solomon because of his lack of interest in advancing the cause of the people of the Northern Territory and the people of his own electorate of Solomon in this discussion. He ought to understand, as should the member for Lowe, that there are a range of activities which this committee has been undertaking publicly over a long period of time involving the community in discussion—not prejudging an outcome, not presuming an outcome, but having a discussion with the community.

Since last year, the committee has undertaken over 25 community presentations or briefings on statehood with a range of Territory organisations and individuals. They included professional development workshops in February for teachers to discuss how the stated materials fit into the civics and citizenship aspects of the school curriculum and provide advice on the resources that the committee has developed to assist teachers. The committee has also travelled to Hermannsburg, Santa Teresa, Amoonguna, Alice Springs, Wallace Rockhole, Katherine and the surrounding communities to host community awareness sessions on statehood in the Central Australia region.

One of the most interesting things that the committee is doing is in conjunction with the Australian Electoral Commission—this might even attract the attention of the member for Lowe. On 18 May the committee announced that it had entered into an arrangement with the Australian Electoral Commission—indeed, the member for Solomon might be interested if he opened his eyes and actually cleaned the wax out of his ears for a change—to increase awareness of and participation in voting on the statehood issue when the time comes. It has joined with the Australian Electoral Commission to run a mock referendum on statehood during the 2007 Northern Territory show season. For those people who are not aware of the show season in the Northern Territory, it is a very important time. It is where the community gets together to applaud the pastoral sector and the rural industries of the Northern Territory, but at the same time they have a mighty fine get-together.

During the 2007 Territory show season, in a simulated voting exercise, Territorians will be asked to vote yes or no to the following three questions: (1) do you agree that the Northern Territory should become a state under the Australian Constitution? (2) do you agree the Northern Territory as a new state should have the same powers as existing states of Australia? (3) do you agree that the Northern Territory as a new state should have the same number of senators as the existing states of Australia?

People have an interest, and, if they participate, they can vote yes or no and give an indication of what they think. In the mock referendum on statehood, Territorians under the age of 18 will be eligible to cast a vote, all mock referendum voters 17 years and over will be asked to ensure that they are on the electoral roll and younger voters will be provided with information about why enrolling to vote is so important.

Another significant difference is that the polls will open on day one of the Freds Pass Rural Show, which is on 19 May. I have had the pleasure of attending the Freds Pass Rural Show, unlike the member for Lowe or the member for Solomon, neither of whom were there to express their views to the Northern Territory community. I will take the member for Lowe to the Northern Territory and I will front him up to a few of these meetings and, if he expresses the views to them that he expressed here in the parliament this afternoon, he will get run out of town in very short order.

Another significant difference is that the polls will open, as I said, on day one of the Freds Pass Rural Show and will not close until the end of the final day at the Borroloola show in August—

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