Debates Day 5 - Wednesday 17 October 2007
Parliamentary Record 17
Debates for 10th Assembly 2005 - 2008; 10th Assembly 2005 - 2008; Parliamentary Record; ParliamentNT
2007-10-17
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/10070/278153
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/423053
DEBATES Wednesday 17 October 2007 4883 Dhimurru and Parks and Wildlife have been working with tourist company, World Expeditions on a ghost net cleanup event south of Cape Arnhem. The two groups collectively removed 139 ghost nets as part of their program. Sixteen World Expedition clients from around Australia, two World Exhibition guides, six Dhimurru Rangers, and Parks and Wildlife Ranger, Phil Wise, made up the cleanup team. Everyone camped on location and participated in cultural activities when the tide was not right for collecting the ghost nets. These intensive cleanups are extremely important to clear coastlines of all ghost nets and marine debris. Data was collected and recorded where nets where found. There are currently 18 indigenous ranger groups around the Gulf of Carpentaria, from Galiwinku to the Torres Strait, involved in the award winning Carpentaria Ghost Nets Program. I thank Steve Roeger, Phil Wise, the Dhimurru Rangers and all those involved in helping to decrease the environmental impact these nets have on marine wildlife. Senior Sergeant Tony Fuller, Officer-in-Charge of Nhulunbuy Police Station for some years, is to depart Gove and it will be a great loss to the Nhulunbuy region as he takes up a well deserved promotion to Superintendent in Darwin in two weeks time. Tony has been at the forefront of the Alcohol Management Plan devised by our local Harmony group to alleviate alcohol concerns within the region. It is a successful strategy that will be implemented once the federal governments alcohol laws are deemed to be unworkable and unreasonable in our region. Tonys exceptional commitment to his job is testament to the relationship and the respect he has with the Yolngu communities and the township of Nhulunbuy. He has always participated in community events. He coached our local football teams and, for me at a personal level, was always just a phone call away for any issues of concerns on behalf of constituents. I wish Tony, Eli, Daniel and Kane all the very best as they move back to Darwin. I sincerely thank them for being such an important part of our community. The Relay for Life fundraiser was staged over the weekend of 8 and 9 September. The well attended event commenced on Saturday afternoon, concluding Sunday morning, with 236 walkers competing in 13 relay teams. Over $45 000 - not bad for a small community - was raised for cancer research. My thanks to Fiona Pearce and her team of helpers for organising such an important event, and to the community for participating in a generous way. Over $30 000 of that $45 000 was raised at the G3 camp, from the construction guys working on G3 for Alcan, so a special thanks to them. We are all affected in some way by this illness and I congratulate everyone who contributed to the weekend. Congratulations to Samantha Zeigler, the Territorys top VET student this year. Samantha received her award at the awards dinner in Darwin last month. A student of Nhulunbuy High, Samantha has been a resident of Nhulunbuy for eight years. She enrolled in the VET program last year when she was in Year 11 and completed her Certificate I Business as well as Certificate I Hospitality. This year, Samantha is completing her NTCE as well as taking on the extra load of more vocational education training in Business II, Hospitality II and Certificate I in Information Technology. I congratulate Samantha on receiving the award. Her dedication and hard work have paid off, and again Nhulunbuy High School has provided excellent training for these VET students. Alcan Gove dominated the Mine Rescue competition held in Darwin recently, taking out first place. Their Emergency Response Team was named 2007 Champion ahead of six other mining companies from across the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Congratulations to the Emergency Response Team, a credit to Alcan, and all its employees in benchmarking their safety performance as a priority within the organisation. The Heart Foundation and Kellogg Australia announced the Yirrkala Dhanbul Council a winner of the 2007 Northern Territory Local Government Awards recently. The Dhanbul Communitys Active Cooking Program has been highly commended in the programs that improve heart health in priority groups. The council was recognised for the policies and programs which encouraged better health in the community. The program is a collaborative nutrition and physical activity program. It provides regular opportunities for Yolngu young people to learn and participate in a healthy lifestyle. I congratulate Dhanbul Community Council and the healthy lifestyle team on their award. Congratulations to Dean Bloomfield and Geoff Bellinger from Gove and the Northern Territory Eight Ball Team on winning the Timor Cup in Kupang recently. It was a great effort by Dean, who captained the team and was named the Northern Territorys Best and Fairest Player. I used to play darts with Dean many years ago when we had a darts competition, and he is an accomplished all around sports person. Well done, Dean. Mr Deputy Speaker, I raise this as a lifelong and devout supporter of Australian Rules in this country and express my disappointment and