Debates Day 1 - Tuesday 23 May 1995
Parliamentary Record 11
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1995-05-23
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/281694
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/413979
DEBATES - Tuesday 23 May 1995 $170m, 55% of the total health budget, to providing health and community services for Aboriginal people in 1995-96. Additional expenditure in this area will include $1.4m to upgrade community-controlled health services, $2.2m to expand renal disease programs, $300 000 to introduce and improve a nutrition program, and an additional $200 000 for infant and maternal health. Victoria River has also benefited from this governments 5-year program to upgrade or replace Aboriginal health clinics, as I mentioned earlier. There is a further allocation for this purpose in this years budget. I want to put on the record that a new clinic was officially opened at Wadeye this year, Peppimenarti clinic was completed in recent years, Daly River has received funding for repairs and maintenance this year, Palumpa is on the program for upgrading and Timber Creek is on the design list for a future replacement clinic at a cost of some $900 000. We also have in my electorate very good quality clinics and reasonably new clinics at Bulla, Amanbidgi, Kalkaringi, Dagaragu, Lajamanu, Yarralin and Pigeon Hole. My constituents stand to benefit from the additional health funding which will be used to establish a 5-year plan to address specific problems related to Aboriginal health. This government will set clear targets to reduce the incidence of sickness and disease in Aboriginal communities. Important areas, where success has already been achieved, include nutrition, infant and maternal health, environmental health and the various alcohol and drug programs. The plan also contains positive measures for Aboriginal employment and training and addresses issues of community responsibility and control. There is no doubt that the Territory government is committed to addressing Aboriginal health problems and the electorate of Victoria River will continue to benefit from this. I am pleased that the important parks and reserves in my electorate continue to be developed by this government. Parks such as Nitmiluk and Elsey, including the Mataranka thermal pool, are important to the lifestyle of people living in the electorate and for the support they give to the tourism industry. In 1995-96, $300 000 has been allocated to establish a separate camping ground and day-use area at Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park and $200 000 will go towards improving visitor facilities at Stevies Waterhole and Mataranka thermal pool in Elsey National Park. A further $900 000 has been allocated under the Transport and Works program to provide a double-lane bridge to Edith Falls. I am pleased that significant future improvements in these parks have been included in the proposed future capital works program. These include an additional $1.5m at Nitmiluk, nearly $400 000 at Elsey and $300 000 for visitor facilities at Flora River Nature Park. A most important capital works project for my electorate, which I was pleased to see in this budget, is the development of the road network for the Katherine/Daly basin, to which some $2m has been allocated in the 1995-96 year. This represents the major commitment by this government to that project. Roadworks will begin at the Katherine end and extend through the Edith Farms area to the Douglas/Daly. An added benefit of these works will certainly be the resolution of difficulties encountered by locals and the farms area during the wet season. The Katherine/Daly basin project is one of the most important and exciting prospects for agricultural development in the Territory. This budgets allocation represents a major step forward. The member for Katherine and I look forward to our electorates reaping the benefits of this project in years to come. 3577