Parliamentary record : Part I debates (02 October 1990)
Debates for 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990
1990-10-02
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
English
Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220324
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/699493
DEBATES - Tuesday 2 October 1990 In conclusion, whilst these articles are very small, this has the potential to become a thriving industry. The information that I have provided indicates that the industry accounts for approximately $30min Australia in retail sales; I believe that we are merely scratching the surface of the potential of this industry and that the government and this Assembly should show a lead in protecting our local Northern Territory Aboriginal artists. Mr BELL (MacDonnell): Mr Deputy Speaker, the Minister for Transport and Works has made a number of comments in the 1 ast week or so about a variety of aspects of Commonwealth aviation policy that impact on the Northern Territory, the 1 arge number of Territori ans who use ai rcraft, and the Territori ans who are emp 1 oyed in the av i at i on industry. Wi th regard the latter, I refer in particular to the flight service officers. This is one issue that the minister has not raised and perhaps I should address that first. I want simply to place on record my concern for some of those peop 1 e who not only have made representations to me. but have provided an. excellent service to myself as a private pilot in the Northern Territory. I am responding to their concerns. Some of these people have given long and sterling service to aviation. in the Territory, providing flight services and both pre-flight information and in-flight advice to pilots etc. Personally, I have very much appreciated their services. In January this year, without putting too fine a point on it, I became lost somewhere in the vicinity of Yuendumu and Hooker Creek. I flew south from Lajamanu for about 45 minutes. A thunderhead was obscuring my view of the Granites Mine that I was to visit and I had to make a choice whether to divert around 'it to the east or to the west. I diverted to the west, which proved to be a mistake. I flew around in circles for 30 minutes while I was pacified over the high frequency radio system by flight service officers. Eventually, we got to the Granites. Fortunately, in addition to the statutory reserve of 45 mi nutes, I had an extra hour or 2 up my sleeve because I had fully refuelled at VRD. For that reason and a few others, I have reason. to be thankful for the service provided by flight service officers. Many of those people' have given sterling service in the Territory over a number of years . . The decision to reduce their numbers by some 40% to 50% is a matter of considerable concern to me. Decisions have been taken to close down f1 ight service units, and that has already happened at Tennant Creek. There are. decisions to close them down at Darwin and at Alice Springs. Mr Tuxworth: And Katherine. Mr BELL: The member for Bark 1y refers to the closure at Katheri ne. That occurred some time ago. The dec is i on to reduce those numbers d ramat i ca 11 y was a very complicated one. However, what the minister failed to advise this Assembly was that the new aeronautical information service will take advantage of changing technology in that regard. If the minister were doing his job responsibly, he would make regular statements about changes of that kind and the impacts we can expect. This brings me to something that ~as been of concern to me about the minister's recent statements. It relates to the changes in air space management. Listening to what the Minister for Transport and Works has had 10 719