Mr STIRLING - 2000-08-08
Since the introduction of the goods and services tax the price of petrol in the Northern Territory has increased by around 5 per litre. Many outlets no longer display their price because it won’t fit on their price board. Still the Chief Minister steadfastly resisted Labor and the AANT’s call for a fuel price inquiry. In the Territory, fuel industry market power is concentrated in the hands of a very few. The biggest player, Australian Fuel Distributors, owns multiple petrol stations. In 1997, Australian Fuel Distributors was one of the biggest donors to the CLP, bankrolling the campaign to the tune of $50 000. I seek leave to table the document revealing that.
Leave granted.
Mr STIRLING: Is it not true that the Chief Minister will not hold the fuel inquiry that the Territory needs because he is looking after the CLP’s interests instead of Territorians?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, what I believe is true and consistent is that the member for Nhulunbuy has not one ounce of moral fortitude in his whole body. He would bring into this House, using the protection of this House, the most scurrilous allegations against the CLP government. But that does not bother me in the slightest.
There are plenty of mechanisms, including the Public Accounts Committee, to get to those sorts of things. You might want to provide a reference to the Ombudsman if you think that is the case. What is important is that they can throw these allegations around against Territorians, many of whom are out there working hard in small business, running service stations, providing employment for other Territorians, and working within the economic constraints that are brought on more often than not by global constraints on their businesses at the time.
As for the suggestion that we hold a petrol prices inquiry, no argument has been put to me of any substance that it would tell us answers that we do not already know. There has been no reason put to any government in the whole of Australia. All are coping with similar price rises. Perhaps they have more responsible oppositions who take the time to understand the economic indicators themselves, rather than trying to run cheap politics on the issue.
The answer in the Northern Territory to my mind is that more often than not …
Mr Toyne: She’ll be right at $1.28.
Mr BURKE: Perhaps the member for Stuart would be happier if we regulated in the Northern Territory. This is what would happen under a Labor government. You say: ‘There are too many service station outlets. We will regulate. If there are 20 in Alice Springs, from next week 10. If there are 50 in Darwin, from next week 25’. That is the kind of solution a Labor government in the Northern Territory would propose. This is the way Labor governments operate.
If there is a suggestion of drugs in sport, what does the Labor Party in the Northern Territory do? ‘We want the government to be the policeman of sport in the Northern Territory. We will dope-test every athlete, every footballer in the Northern Territory’.
Mr Toyne: What does this have to do with a fuel price inquiry?
Mr BURKE: This is your suggestion. The member for Fannie Bay, the Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Territory, as Chief Minister would legislate to regulate doping in sport.
Ms Martin: What?
Mr BURKE: You said it on the radio. I will get you the transcript. You said we should have legislation where the government tests. This is the way they would handle it. They are not into self-regulation. They are not into sporting peak bodies regulating their own sport. We need the heavy hand of government - the same way you would deal with the fuel industry.
The other reason I am not keen on having a fuel price inquiry is that we had one on food. We held what I believe was a serious inquiry to reach a serious conclusion and got nothing but derision from the opposition, who said at all times: ‘The answers are self-evident’. Well, apply your own logic now. If there was any reason for a prices inquiry, apart from the scurrilous accusation that small businesses who are operating in a very tough environment are somehow profiteering - it really is an issue of supply and demand and providing convenience for Territorians, on top of the many conditions that are being imposed by the high price of fuel, nationally and internationally.
Leave granted.
Mr STIRLING: Is it not true that the Chief Minister will not hold the fuel inquiry that the Territory needs because he is looking after the CLP’s interests instead of Territorians?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, what I believe is true and consistent is that the member for Nhulunbuy has not one ounce of moral fortitude in his whole body. He would bring into this House, using the protection of this House, the most scurrilous allegations against the CLP government. But that does not bother me in the slightest.
There are plenty of mechanisms, including the Public Accounts Committee, to get to those sorts of things. You might want to provide a reference to the Ombudsman if you think that is the case. What is important is that they can throw these allegations around against Territorians, many of whom are out there working hard in small business, running service stations, providing employment for other Territorians, and working within the economic constraints that are brought on more often than not by global constraints on their businesses at the time.
As for the suggestion that we hold a petrol prices inquiry, no argument has been put to me of any substance that it would tell us answers that we do not already know. There has been no reason put to any government in the whole of Australia. All are coping with similar price rises. Perhaps they have more responsible oppositions who take the time to understand the economic indicators themselves, rather than trying to run cheap politics on the issue.
The answer in the Northern Territory to my mind is that more often than not …
Mr Toyne: She’ll be right at $1.28.
Mr BURKE: Perhaps the member for Stuart would be happier if we regulated in the Northern Territory. This is what would happen under a Labor government. You say: ‘There are too many service station outlets. We will regulate. If there are 20 in Alice Springs, from next week 10. If there are 50 in Darwin, from next week 25’. That is the kind of solution a Labor government in the Northern Territory would propose. This is the way Labor governments operate.
If there is a suggestion of drugs in sport, what does the Labor Party in the Northern Territory do? ‘We want the government to be the policeman of sport in the Northern Territory. We will dope-test every athlete, every footballer in the Northern Territory’.
Mr Toyne: What does this have to do with a fuel price inquiry?
Mr BURKE: This is your suggestion. The member for Fannie Bay, the Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Territory, as Chief Minister would legislate to regulate doping in sport.
Ms Martin: What?
Mr BURKE: You said it on the radio. I will get you the transcript. You said we should have legislation where the government tests. This is the way they would handle it. They are not into self-regulation. They are not into sporting peak bodies regulating their own sport. We need the heavy hand of government - the same way you would deal with the fuel industry.
The other reason I am not keen on having a fuel price inquiry is that we had one on food. We held what I believe was a serious inquiry to reach a serious conclusion and got nothing but derision from the opposition, who said at all times: ‘The answers are self-evident’. Well, apply your own logic now. If there was any reason for a prices inquiry, apart from the scurrilous accusation that small businesses who are operating in a very tough environment are somehow profiteering - it really is an issue of supply and demand and providing convenience for Territorians, on top of the many conditions that are being imposed by the high price of fuel, nationally and internationally.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016