Parliamentary record : Part I debates (11 November 1986)
Debates for 4th Assembly 1983 - 1987; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 4th Assembly 1983 - 1987
1986-11-11
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
application/pdf
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220605
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/698931
DEBATES - Tuesday 11 November 1986 On the technology side, NCOM has received additional moneys to upgrade the Territory computer services. Combined with some of the proposals that we are examining in respect of delivering communications services by satellite, it will give us the opportunity to provide one of the most innovative government schemes in Australia. This is being examined by several departments at the moment and is called the one-stop-shop scheme. This concept was raised some time ago in the report of the Select Committee on Communications Technology and has been expanded further into areas that produce slightly different cost savings and additional services to the major centres and, inevitably, to the rural and remote areas as well. That one-stop-shop principle relates to information that is currently available within government both for government servants and for private enterprise. Instead of having to track around various government buildings and offices to transact business or to obtain information, a person will have access to a one-stop-shop centre in each of the major towns or major community centres. Eventually, wherever we have a government service of any sort, whether it be a police station in a remote area or some transport and works mobile camps, a person will be able to access information even from those sources. At the moment, if people wish to pay their water rates, they go to the Water Division. If they wish to pay their electricity bills, they go to NTEC. If they wish to obtain information on land matters, or births, deaths and marriages, they go the appropriate department. For matters relating to motor vehicles, they go the Motor Vehicle Registry. That may not be difficult for people in Darwin or Alice Springs but it is not hard to imagine how difficult it is for people who live in areas remote from those major centre. People in the scrub spend days using the makeshift radio service, writing letters and waiting long periods for information. In their frustration, some drive to Darwin or to Alice Springs to transact their business with government or to seek the information that they desperately need. Hopefully, with the introduction of one-stop shops, people will be able to access information via the government computer centre. The information could be transmitted onto VDU screens or facsimile hard copies of information could be issued to the person seeking it. The payment of accounts will also be expedited because there will be no reason to track around 6 or 7 different government departments to pay accounts. It will be possible to pay accounts at 1 central depot. The government accounting mechanisms will differentiate those accounts and allocate the money into the Treasury areas for which each department has responsibility. I am pleased also to see that initiatives are being taken in relation to recreation and sport. The Minister for Youth, Sport and Recreation and Ethnic Affairs detailed some of the sporting venues that will be provided for by the budget. Some of them have been completed and the remainder will be completed later in the year. I am particularly pleased to see that the government has continued with its scheme of assisting Northern Territory teams to compete at a national and international level. The interaction between Territorians and sportsmen in other states will be extremely helpful to us in our move towards statehood. These people will demonstrate their feelings for the Northern Territory and become our ambassadors. The skills that they develop by means of cultural relationships with the states will assist these people to become better citizens of the Northern Territory. I was particularly pleased to see that the Darwin Port Authority has addressed several of the problems created by the withdrawal of Commonwealth funding, particularly in respect of navigational aids. The Commonwealth government decided last year no longer to support any navigational aids for 864