KATIE WOLF, HOST: Well, it feels like it's been a very long time that we've been discussing reinstating the territory rights when it comes to voluntary assisted dying. But I understand that there has certainly been some movement in the federal Parliament today. And joining me on the line is Labor's Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon. Good morning to you, Luke.
LUKE GOSLING, MEMBER FOR SOLOMON: Morning, Katie.
WOOLF: Luke, what is the situation this morning with the Territory Rights Bill?
GOSLING: The debate has continued over in the Senate. Listeners will remember that we got it passed through the House of Representatives, where I sit, a while back. The Senate debated today. There were some funny buggers going on with some of the senators from the opposition trying to make some amendments, just trying to get a read on those at the moment. And Senator Price was making some unassociated points having a go at the NT Government. But what we're all hoping is these things aren't going to delay any further vote and it'll be able to go ahead this time next week.
WOOLF: Right. So how likely is it that it's going to pass before the year's end? If it's happening next week? I'm assuming pretty likely.
GOSLING: Yeah, that’ll pretty much be the last opportunity, although they're talking at the moment that we might be sitting Friday and even Saturday, which is fine. We will stay here and keep working until we get it passed. But I'm confident, Katie. Apart from some of the amendments that some different senators are trying to put up, which seems like a bit of a delaying tactic to try and to delay the vote, I think essentially the majority of senators have come to see that this is about democratic rights of Territorians, and that it will get the numbers. We need 38 senators to support it. So obviously despite what Senator Jacinta Price from the CLP has been saying in the debate today, despite that, I hope that she supports the Territory Rights Bill in the end, next week.
WOOLF: So Luke, just talk us through, if you can, just explain it to our listeners very simply this morning exactly what steps are still required to get this thing passed and to make it happen before the end of the year so that then the Northern Territory Parliament obviously would have to go through any process for this to be able to happen in the Northern Territory.
GOSLING: Yeah. And some people might be new to the Territory and don't know the background. So very quickly, 25 years ago, the Federal government at the time had what was called the Andrews bill – because it was put forward by for a man named Kevin Andrews, who's no longer in the Parliament. But it stopped the Northern Territory's euthanasia bill that had passed the Parliament. They overrode it, as the Commonwealth can do to Territory law. Now obviously we don't want that. We want Territorians not to be second-class citizens, but it has taken 25 years for us to get to a position where there was a government prepared to support the Northern Territory and the ACT to put the vote. And it has been a conscience vote. That vote passed the House of Representatives, and passed the House well. But of course, for federal legislation to be enacted, it has to be passed by the House of Representatives and then goes to the Senate, where there's state representatives and territory representatives. And unfortunately, we only have two senators from the Northern Territory, while states such as Tasmania, even though they've only got double our population, have 12 senators each. So that's unfair and something that we want to change. But that's why Senator Price becomes really important, right? Because you'd hope that you can count on all the Senators from the Territories to be saying that Territorians having the same rights as people in the States is what is right and fair and proper.
WOOLF: So we’ll know by Thursday next week?
GOSLING: Yes, it has been debated in the Senate, but obviously if there's more senators from the Opposition that want to vote and have and have their say and sort of – the Americans call it a filibuster, where you can stretch it out so that the government either has to make a decision whether to stop the debate and put it to a vote, or whether to let everyone speak. And then the parliament or the Senate, rather, will just continue on as long as it takes. We will stay here until we've got the Territory Rights Bill passed. That's what we'll be doing next week.
WOOLF: Well, Luke, let's wait and see exactly what goes on. I do hope that we get to the point where the Northern Territory is realistically able to decide for ourselves. In other news, though, we know that the Federal Government has locked in more affordable early education for about 5,000 local families in Darwin and Palmerston. Laws to deliver the reforms passed the Parliament earlier in the week. Luke, how exactly are these additional places going to work?
GOSLING: Yeah, well, it’s additional funding for families with children in early childhood education. It's fantastic that it’s passed, and is going to mean for the 5,000 local families in Darwin and Palmerston, it's going to mean more affordable early education. The childcare subsidy for families earning 80 grand or less – and that's a fair whack for people in the north – the subsidy will increase to 90% coverage of those people through the subsidy. A family on a combined income of about 120 grand as one example, with one child in care, will be $1,780 better off in the first year under our reforms. And this is not only cost of living relief for Territory families, it's also going to boost productivity. Because that means that parents, and especially mums, who are usually the carers, can work more paid hours if they want to with their kids getting that early childhood education that's so important to their kids’ development. It means more money in the pockets of Territory families and that's a great thing for the Territory, it’s a good thing for business. Because we all know we're struggling with workforce. What we’ve had at the moment is families tossing up, “well, is it really worth me going to work because of all the money that I earn’s going to pay for childcare?”
WOOLF: Oh, absolutely. It’s bloody expensive.
GOSLING: It’s really going to help.
WOOLF: It does make a big difference, particularly for those people that fall within that combined income and within that singular income if it is a single parent, because it's really tough going when you've got your kids in childcare. It is so expensive, and it does make you question whether you should be going back to work or not in some cases.
GOSLING: Exactly, Katie. And we've copped a bit of a flack for extending it to people who are on quite good incomes. But I guess the way that we've seen this is that the universality of governments services, this should mean that the people that might be on a good wage, they should be entitled to affordable early childhood care as well, the same as they're entitled to send their kids to a government school. Same as they're entitled to go to Royal Darwin Hospital, a public hospital. You know, and that's the great thing about our country, I think, is that we've agreed as a society that we want to provide those basic supports: early childhood education support, and primary school and secondary school education. We've put on 20,000 more government-funded university spots and fee-free TAFE and VET for a lot more Territorians. And now I think that's going to set us up for the future and help our economy to grow as well.
WOOLF: Luke, we are going to have to leave it there. Good to speak with you this morning. Thanks for keeping us up to date with what's going on with the Territory Rights Bill as well.
GOSLING: Thank you, Katie, and hope everyone has a great weekend.
