Bill Yan: The way to the top for the CLP

The quest for reaching dizzying heights is not limited to politics for Namatjira MLA Bill Yan (CLP), seeking re-election this month: He’s pictured in 2019 standing on the Himalayas summit of Island Peak (Imja Tse) at 6200m, with Nepalese climbing guide, Nema. Mr Yan has also walked to the Mount Everest base camp three times, including on January 5 this year.

Crime and anti-social issues will – unsurprisingly – be a major election focus for the CLP, Mr Yan told DON FULLER who probed how the party would deal with what the candidate says is “having a huge impact right across the community, whether that be people in homes, businesses or people going about their daily life”.

FULLER: Give me examples, please.

YAN: We had a forum with the candidates at the Chamber of Commerce and we heard from a woman who has been a victim of crime and threatened in her own home. As a result, she and her family are looking to leave town. People feel like they are living inside a prison and that they are trapped inside their own homes and too afraid to go out. We are also seeing anti-social and criminal behaviour in the work-place. Just recently the community bank in town gave notice that it was closing its doors due to safety risks to its staff, who have been subject to a number of threats of violence and intimidation.

FULLER: Is there enough information out there?

YAN: There has been a problem with the new IT system introduced by police and recently, we have not been able to get accurate crime statistics. This will need to be fixed quickly if Police are going to be able to direct their resources to the main areas of concern. But, besides dealing with the outcomes of crime we need to have a major focus on prevention and education, as well, to deal with issues before they happen.

FULLER: What are the side issues of crime?

YAN: The other main issue is cost of living but unfortunately this too, is being badly affected by crime and anti-social behaviour because it is increasing the costs of doing business and these costs are passed on to the consumer. Businesses are bearing the effects of criminal activities with break-ins and thefts, for example. Unless we can control crime we will see a steady decline in the social fabric of our community. This needs to be turned around so that Alice can return to the vibrant and healthy community it was.

FULLER: Does the CLP have plans to better deal with making offenders face the consequences of illegal activities? How can illegal activities continue without consequences for one group of the population at the expense of other people?

YAN: From my wide experience working in Corrections I have seen that there is a huge gap at present between kids who are first coming into contact with the justice system and the end result of youth detention. For those coming into contact with the Justice System for the first time there are a limited number of diversionary and low level programs in place. So there is little available to youth offenders beside Detention that works well. But offending has to be very serious before Detention takes place.

FULLER: But some wonder why it is that young Aboriginal people can commit crimes of violence more than once. You can go through all the “soft options” but what have these options achieved for the community?

YAN: The Justice System takes into account the disadvantages faced by these young people.

FULLER: But it could be argued that many have suffered disadvantage regardless of their origin and decisions based on racial origin, where people do not experience the consequences of their illegal actions, show no signs of working. The Justice System should make decisions based on legislation. Does the CLP have any plans to strengthen legislation so that people, regardless of racial origin face the consequences of their actions?

YAN: We have tried to bring forward legislation in Parliament around youth crime that Labor didn’t support. One that we are concerned about are the consequences of breach of bail, where currently there are no offences attached for doing this. We will change the legislation to bring back breach of bail as an offence. We also intend to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 10 years.

FULLER: That’s very young.

YAN: This is not about putting kids in detention. Currently, all that can happen if a young person 10 to 12 commits an offence is that they can be recommended for a diversionary program. However, there is no requirement to attend the program. By bringing the age back an order can be made by the criminal justice system for the child to undertake an activity. Based on this, the CLP wants to create a Skills Camp. We are calling this “Sentence to a Skill”. We plan to bridge the current gap between first contact with the Justice System and Detention with this concept.

FULLER: How would it work?

YAN: Kids would go to this Camp. They would engage in educational activities and cultural activities, and be able to connect with elders and the community. Traditional “chalk and talk” education doesn’t work with many of these kids. We want to use vocational education and training so that they can learn applied skills, with their hands and visual skills, so that they can contribute to the community in good jobs. We will also concentrate on building literacy and numeracy skills. This should help turn their lives around so they can gain self-esteem and self-respect.

FULLER: What support will be available to these young people once they leave the “Skills Camp”? Will on-going parental and family support be necessary? (Mr Yan has already urged earlier that parents need to have a far more important role.)

YAN: Absolutely.

FULLER: What part should the government play?

YAN: That is the role of the department, Territory Families. They need to be more pro-active working with these kids and their families. Sadly, they need to do more to provide support to these families than is being done at present. Areas such as education and training in parenting and household and income management. A lot of this is just not happening.

FULLER: Is that a lack of competence or cultural understanding by the department?

YAN: I think Territory families has become too big and it’s become quite stagnant. It makes it very difficult for the department to become dynamic and to respond to what is happening. We think Youth Detention should be taken out of Territory Families and this function should be placed with Correctional Services. Currently the areas of responsibility are blurred and confused.

FULLER: Moving away from the responsibilities of government departments I would now like to turn to the responsibility and effectiveness of Aboriginal organisations. These community based organisations have received a very large amount of funding from the Federal and Territory Governments. Are they contributing to solving the problems facing Alice in an efficient and effective manner with taxpayers money?

YAN: I am asked by people all the time why, with hundreds of millions of dollars going in to these organizations, more outcomes are not being achieved. It is quite heart breaking that outcomes don’t seem to be achieved for those in need of help.

FULLER: What do you think are the main reasons for that?

YAN: I see a number of these organizations as very top heavy in management and administration. A lot of the money gets burned up there with vehicles and everything else. That takes money away from services being delivered on the ground.

FULLER: Do you think the people who manage these organizations have the necessary training and skills required to deliver these complex programs?

YAN: I would like to hope so but I haven’t got into the management of these organizations. While a number of these have been funded by the Federal government it is up to the NT government to pressure the Feds to make sure these programs are run properly and achieve outcomes. More and more people are concerned about organizations such as Tangentyere Council whose main function is to deliver services to Town Camps. The amount of money which has gone to this organization compared to the outcomes achieved for those in the Town Camps just don’t add up.

FULLER: What’s the response of the NGOs?

YAN: Attempts by the Council and myself to work with Tangentyere have not been encouraged. They have proved difficult to work with in any cooperative sense. There has been quite a degree of turmoil in this organization and nepotism within the management and Board. Similar problems have been experienced with NAAJA, with infighting and management problems. One of the shining lights in Aboriginal run organizations in Central Australia has been Congress.

FULLER: Is there enough control over how public funds are spent?

YAN: If the CLP wins government I want to make sure that any Territory money that is provided to Aboriginal organizations achieves outcomes and that it is properly spent and accounted for. We can’t keep throwing money out the door with little idea on how it is being spent.

FULLER: What measures would you put in place to encourage business and jobs growth in Alice?

YAN: As mentioned, crime needs to be controlled. It affects among other things, the ability to attract staff. We want to look at tax incentives to encourage business and people through zone taxation allowances. We want to work with the Federal government to put these incentives in place. We also want to look closely at payroll tax arrangements so that they don’t work against small business growth. We would also like to arrange for businesses to receive tax breaks for employing apprentices and trainees.

FULLER: What should be the role of immigrants?

YAN: We would like to address the changes that have occurred to visa requirements with the Federal government. These previously benefited remote regions such as Alice Springs but have been changed so that other less remote regions are now included as working destinations for immigrants. This has disadvantaged remote regions such as Alice and it needs to be changed back.

FULLER: There is a slump in tourism.

YAN: We need to encourage tourism in Central Australia which has been suffering badly during Covid and post Covid. We also need to encourage mining and agricultural activities. To do this we need to reduce the amount of approvals and red tape that are required for projects to proceed. Within mining, gas will be essential for the future growth of the Territory.  We need also recognise and support small business as these are at the heart of the Territory economy.

FULLER: How would that be governed?

YAN: We want to set up a position outside government called “The Territory Controller” to push important projects through so that they are not held up by unreasonable government processes and time-lines. This position would be a champion for important projects.

FULLER: How would you bring the debt laden Territory budget under control?

YAN: The Territory Labor party has blown the debt out in wasteful spending and wasteful projects. We need to drive our own source revenue and build our industry sectors to provide this tourism, mining and agriculture. To do this we need to rebuild our reputation to attract the required investment. It need to return to the “can do place” that it used to be rather than the “can’t do place” that it has become. The public sector has to become more dynamic and efficient and able to work better supporting business.

FULLER: The public service is very large in the NT relative to other States and Territories. Do you think it needs to be reduced if the Territory is to become viable?

YAN: We have given a commitment that we will not axe any government jobs or assets.

FULLER: But doesn’t the huge public service act as a break on diversifying and developing the Territory economy?

YAN: Part of the reason for the high levels of employment in the public sector is due to the tyranny of distance in the Territory. But the service has to become more dynamic and efficient to meet the development needs of the Territory. But I am aware that the Langoulant Report did recommend in 2019 that the size of the public service needed to be reformed and capped if the Territory was to achieve economic viability and reign in debt. However, the Labor government has ignored this recommendation and employed an additional three thousand public servants since the Report was submitted to the Labor government.

FULLER: A lot of government initiative seem to be on the never-never.

YAN: The practice of the Labor government of putting infrastructure projects on the books but not actioning them until some years later, when prices have increased sharply, has also had the effect of boosting the debt levels. This also serves to inflate the level of infrastructure projects undertaken by the government because many of them are in fact, not “new” projects.