Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No; he got back and he is going to do a great job. He is very impressive. With all due respect to Clare Martin, he is going to be a great chief minister for the Northern Territory and it is no wonder that he was re-elected. He will continue to do a great job.

Leadership requires one to convince others that you have a workable plan to improve the situation and that it is worth their while to follow you to achieve that plan. The fact that there is such wide-ranging opposition and concern in the Northern Territory to the way in which the intervention was executed illustrates the poor leadership of the previous government on this issue.

There are, of course, aspects of the intervention that have been beneficial. In the area of welfare reform the Australian government has made good progress. Fifty-four government business managers are in place, servicing 73 communities and town camps in Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Elliott. As at 27 August, income management is in place in 69 communities and associated outstations, and 10 town camp regions.

As at 22 August, 15,602 people were income managed, including 612 auto-income-managed customers. There are a total of 67 community stores which have been licensed: 39 stores are operating under store-specific licences; eight stores with store-specific licences are managed under Arnhem Land Progress Association consultancy agreements, and 15 stores are operating under corporate licences issued to Outback Stores and the ALPA.

I note that schedule 4 of the bill allows for roadhouses to be classified as community stores when a community is substantially dependent on them for grocery items and drinks. This recognises the way in which retail services are delivered in the Northern Territory. I think this is one area where it is very clear that the intervention by the previous government was so rushed. It did not even appreciate the way in which retail services were delivered in many of these communities. Of course there was the community store, but in lots of these communities retail life revolves around the roadhouses. This is just, I think, a clear indication of how out of touch the government was when it made some of its decisions relating to the Northern Territory.

As at 27 August, the school nutrition programs were in place in 68 communities and associated outstations and 10 town camp regions. As at 27 August, there were 31 community employment brokers in place servicing 57 communities and associated outstations, and two town camp regions. So it is clear that much progress has been made by the Rudd government, but obviously—