Mr BALCH - 2001-05-31
Mr Speaker, recently we all witnessed a very successful Arafura Games with thousands of sports men and women visiting the Northern Territory and, best of all, many Territorians attending all of the various sporting events. I am sure many members in this House also attended. Minister, can you comment on the decision of government to allow free entry to almost all of the 29 sports during the Arafura Games?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the member for Jingili for his interest in this matter. I also take the opportunity to thank most of my colleagues on this side of the House because I saw many of them at many of the games events. I also saw people like Peter Maley and others.
Mr Ah Kit: All the other candidates.
Mr LUGG: I pick up the interjection from the member for Arnhem when he says ‘Hear, hear!’ that we all enjoyed the games and I will get to that in a minute.
I would like to point out some highlights: East Timor, for instance, scored its first gold medals at an international meet; the NT’s Danni Miatke won nine gold and one silver medal in the pool; Darwin’s Judith Green, who works in my department, set a paralympic world record for the 50m breaststroke; a gold medal in judo went to the visually impaired competitor from South Australia. This fellow is quite amazing. He virtually cannot see his hand in front of his face yet he is a silver medallist in judo. Apparently his hearing is so acute and his skills are so sharp that once he gets hold of you, you are finished.
A huge crowd at Marrara Indoor Stadium saw the US defeat the NT in the spectacular men’s basketball final. Crowds were up at all venues. It was really heartening to see. The basketball finals were full house; the boxing was packed; hockey was well attended; and athletics had 1500 patrons to see Patrick Johnson win the 100m medal final.
So in that context, I was a little disturbed - I was more than a little disappointed - when I got a fax from the member for Arnhem. He says:
I was deeply disappointed at the unprofessional and abrupt way in which my invitation and pass was handled. I am therefore not able to attend the games to meet with spectators and athletes. However, if you could make tickets available and slip them under my electorate office door by 10 am tomorrow ...
Which is well after I get up, I assume that is what it means. When does your office open? 12 noon?
Mr Ah Kit: Listen, my friend. We all got tickets last year but because we are in an election year, we don’t get invited. Where were the invitations for the members of the opposition? None!
Mr LUGG: I can tell you that nothing was slipped under the door of the member for Arnhem - and that’s all he needed to go to 25 sports of the 29 that were on. However, if I had slipped this particular pass under his door, he could have gone to all 29 instead of just 25, as most of my colleagues did. You are a fraud. You cannot get up and say you really enjoyed the games. You are telling me you cannot go because we won’t give you free passes to a free event.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the member for Jingili for his interest in this matter. I also take the opportunity to thank most of my colleagues on this side of the House because I saw many of them at many of the games events. I also saw people like Peter Maley and others.
Mr Ah Kit: All the other candidates.
Mr LUGG: I pick up the interjection from the member for Arnhem when he says ‘Hear, hear!’ that we all enjoyed the games and I will get to that in a minute.
I would like to point out some highlights: East Timor, for instance, scored its first gold medals at an international meet; the NT’s Danni Miatke won nine gold and one silver medal in the pool; Darwin’s Judith Green, who works in my department, set a paralympic world record for the 50m breaststroke; a gold medal in judo went to the visually impaired competitor from South Australia. This fellow is quite amazing. He virtually cannot see his hand in front of his face yet he is a silver medallist in judo. Apparently his hearing is so acute and his skills are so sharp that once he gets hold of you, you are finished.
A huge crowd at Marrara Indoor Stadium saw the US defeat the NT in the spectacular men’s basketball final. Crowds were up at all venues. It was really heartening to see. The basketball finals were full house; the boxing was packed; hockey was well attended; and athletics had 1500 patrons to see Patrick Johnson win the 100m medal final.
So in that context, I was a little disturbed - I was more than a little disappointed - when I got a fax from the member for Arnhem. He says:
I was deeply disappointed at the unprofessional and abrupt way in which my invitation and pass was handled. I am therefore not able to attend the games to meet with spectators and athletes. However, if you could make tickets available and slip them under my electorate office door by 10 am tomorrow ...
Which is well after I get up, I assume that is what it means. When does your office open? 12 noon?
Mr Ah Kit: Listen, my friend. We all got tickets last year but because we are in an election year, we don’t get invited. Where were the invitations for the members of the opposition? None!
Mr LUGG: I can tell you that nothing was slipped under the door of the member for Arnhem - and that’s all he needed to go to 25 sports of the 29 that were on. However, if I had slipped this particular pass under his door, he could have gone to all 29 instead of just 25, as most of my colleagues did. You are a fraud. You cannot get up and say you really enjoyed the games. You are telling me you cannot go because we won’t give you free passes to a free event.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016