Debates Day 2 - Wednesday 27 November 2002
Parliamentary Record 9
Debates for 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 9th Assembly 2001 - 2005
2002-11-27
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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DEBATES - Wednesday 27 November 2002 from the Golden Aquarius engineering group for Northern Territory companies to bid for work on two FPSOs being constructed in Singapore for the Brazilian oil company, Petrobras. The visit to Jurong Port and the Jurong Town Corporation was most impressive. The Jurong Town Corporations vision in planning and redeveloping a shanty town and swampland into an impressive port logistics complex and industrial estate in just 25 years is extraordinary. It presents a model of what can be achieved with good planning and commitment, albeit the Territory is operating on a considerably smaller scale. Singapores ability to create waterfront land by reclamation has allowed it to develop world class marine construction and maintenance facilities. These point to the potential for Darwin to handle major oil rig refits, and even build concrete platforms for the industry if we plan appropriately for such developments. The business delegation to OSEA and the associated activities will have valuable outcomes for the Territorys growing offshore service and supply industries. I commend the businesses which took part in the delegation, and I look forward to them pursuing further opportunities as a result. I place on the record my thanks to Thomas Tan of Kim Heng Marine and Oilfield and to Aus trade for their help in developing programs for the Territory delegates and I, and also for Kim Hangs extraordinary generous time that he put in assisting me and the delegation and the hospitality that he showed me and other Territory businesses. I also thank the officers of my department for their work in making the delegation a success. The Australasian Council of Women and Policing present national awards for excellence in policing. This provides an opportunity to publicly acknowledge and reward the significant contributions of women and men who make policing and law enforcement better for women. The awards were presented in October this year and it is my pleasure to report to the House that two women from the Northern Territory won awards. Ms Mary-Anne Skelton won the Community Policing Award and Ms Joy Kuhl won the Bev Lawson Memorial Award. The awards were meritorious and it is my pleasure to provide further details to the House on the achievements of the winners. Mary-Anne Skelton was nominated as a professional officer who uses her multilingual skills to improve how the Northern Territory police work with the incredibly culturally diverse community we have in the Territory, using her significant networks to make positive impacts on how women from culturally diverse backgrounds access the justice system. Mary-Anne, who has recently been promoted to Sergeant of the Northern Territory Police Juvenile Diversion Division, was originally trained as a teacher in her native country of the Philippines. Her ability to speak several languages - English, Filipino/Tagalog, Japanese and Indonesian - has had a positive impact on the interaction the police has with our ethnic community. This has been evident through the course of Mary-Annes police career. An example was when she commenced work in the domestic violence unit in 1995. Mary-Anne immediately recognised the difficulties women from non-English speaking backgrounds experienced in dealing with the police and reporting of domestic violence. Cultural and language problems led to a fear of police and a lack of information on the range of support and assistance available. As a result, Mary-Anne initiated a project to produce and distribute an information pamphlet on domestic violence to ethnic communities. The project specifically targeted five ethnic community groups and was translated into the languages of Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek and Indonesian. The project was instrumental in promoting ways in which women could protect themselves and their children. The pamphlets are still in production today. Mary-Anne actively works to promote policing as a career option to women from ethnic backgrounds and works in partnership with other agencies to provide a positive image of police. The initiative that has been shown by Mary-Anne since she joined the NT police 15 years ago has had a significant positive impact on the relationship between NT police and ethnic communities. Mary-Anne Skelton is a worthy winner of the Community Policing Award. The Bev Lawson Memorial Award is for the most outstanding woman who has been first in any policing or law enforcement activity or support service. Joy Kuhl was nominated for her leadership in establishing and developing the Northern Territorys forensic investigation capacity combined with mentoring and supporting women within the policing and the community generally. Joy has a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the Sydney University and when she was employed by the Northern Territory police in January 1984 she was the only graduate scientist in the forensic unit and the only woman on the staff. At the time of her employment in the Territory, Joy was required to set up her own laboratory, stock and equip the laboratory, establish methods and perform all the work necessary to provide a forensic biology service to her employer. 3110