Mr STONE - 1999-04-29
Yesterday in this Chamber a very serious allegation was made against the Chief Minister. It followed on from a question relating to polling undertaken by a Paul McGregor. Those same allegations were repeated in the adjournment debate last night. This morning I awoke to hear on my radio this party hack, Mark Crossin, making the same sorts of allegations. This is polling relating to the black-striped mussel. Can the Chief Minister clarify once and for all that this polling is not being undertaken by the Northern Territory government? Andcan he also bring a clearer understanding in the public mind about members of the opposition who stand up ...
Mr BAILEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Government members interject regularly when opposition questions are rambling, and more statements than questions. I ask you to direct the member for Port Darwin to make his question brief and concise.
Mr SPEAKER: The question ought to be very direct, and I would appreciate it if the question was asked as quickly as possible.
Mr STONE: It’s about to be, Mr Speaker, but I will finish in my own terms. The question asks the Chief Minister whether he can bring a finer understanding in the public mind about those members of the opposition who also mislead parliament.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question because it was a very serious allegation, levelled not only against the government but also against me. I can tell you what I have figured out from this little episode, and Territorians will be interested in this. I’ve figured out what the southern advice is on the new policy for Labor in the Northern Territory is. The new policy is calculated deception. That’s the policy in a nutshell - calculated deception.
I realise it is unparliamentary to call anyone a liar in this House. I’ll leave that for others to judge. Yesterday, a question was levelled at me with regard to polling by the Northern Territory government. I answered that question very clearly. I said: ‘There is no polling currently being conducted by this government’. The member for Wanguri interjected, saying ‘That’s a lie’, and he was told to withdraw that comment.
When I stood up in this House and said as the leader of government that there is no polling being conducted by the government in the Northern Territory, that’s exactly what I meant. That’s exactly the truth of the matter and that should have been the end of it.
But I do have a very cautious staff. It is impossible to know if polling could be conducted - quite legitimate polling - on behalf of government by some agency of government. So the staff checked and in their checking they ascertained and confirmed what I said in this House: There is no polling being conducted by the Northern Territory government. But they went a bit further. They then rang McGregor Marketing - a pretty simple thing to do to, ringing the polling company. This is just what cautious staff would do. One must ask why the Labor members opposite wouldn’t go through a similar exercise themselves, rather than running with the ramblings of one Mark Crossin who has some interest in Labor Party affairs.
My staff rang McGregor Marketing and McGregor Marketing confirmed that there was no polling being conducted on behalf of the Northern Territory government. They confirmed that straightaway. They did say they are conducting ‘omnibus’ polling. Omnibus polling, Territorians need to understand, is polling conducted on a wide range of issues for a number of organisations. Part of the ‘omnibus’ polling, they revealed, had to do with recycling.
This is like charades - pretty simple stuff. My cautious staff said: ‘Recycling? That sounds like the council. Darwin City Council might have an interest in recycling’. They confirmed with Darwin City Council that it was in fact local government, Darwin City Council, conducting this particular polling.
The point I want to make is that this is the House of the people. This is the House where we are supposed to conduct ourselves in reasonable debate. Now, I can understand a misunderstanding on the part of the Labor Party. What I can’t understand is the member for Nhulunbuy, for example, climbing up in this House in his budget reply and rambling on about the government’s involvement in …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: What I can’t understand, and what Territorians are being deceived by, is the member for Nhulunbuy and others getting up in this House and rambling on about government deception, the government conducting polling that is somehow mischievous and deceitful to Territorians - at the same time, I suggest, knowing full well that every word they uttered was an untruth.
If you didn’t know that, you should not only sack your staff, you should sack yourselves. My staff established this in about 5 minutes flat. This thing has been running on and in the media, based on the deliberate untruth that was raised in this Chamber.
I wait with interest for the Leader of the Opposition to tell me who killed John F Kennedy. They’re really into the old grassy knoll theory, this mob. This is calculated and deliberate deception. If that’s the policy advice you’ve received from your southern masters, Territorians will see straight through it.
Mr BAILEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Government members interject regularly when opposition questions are rambling, and more statements than questions. I ask you to direct the member for Port Darwin to make his question brief and concise.
Mr SPEAKER: The question ought to be very direct, and I would appreciate it if the question was asked as quickly as possible.
Mr STONE: It’s about to be, Mr Speaker, but I will finish in my own terms. The question asks the Chief Minister whether he can bring a finer understanding in the public mind about those members of the opposition who also mislead parliament.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question because it was a very serious allegation, levelled not only against the government but also against me. I can tell you what I have figured out from this little episode, and Territorians will be interested in this. I’ve figured out what the southern advice is on the new policy for Labor in the Northern Territory is. The new policy is calculated deception. That’s the policy in a nutshell - calculated deception.
I realise it is unparliamentary to call anyone a liar in this House. I’ll leave that for others to judge. Yesterday, a question was levelled at me with regard to polling by the Northern Territory government. I answered that question very clearly. I said: ‘There is no polling currently being conducted by this government’. The member for Wanguri interjected, saying ‘That’s a lie’, and he was told to withdraw that comment.
When I stood up in this House and said as the leader of government that there is no polling being conducted by the government in the Northern Territory, that’s exactly what I meant. That’s exactly the truth of the matter and that should have been the end of it.
But I do have a very cautious staff. It is impossible to know if polling could be conducted - quite legitimate polling - on behalf of government by some agency of government. So the staff checked and in their checking they ascertained and confirmed what I said in this House: There is no polling being conducted by the Northern Territory government. But they went a bit further. They then rang McGregor Marketing - a pretty simple thing to do to, ringing the polling company. This is just what cautious staff would do. One must ask why the Labor members opposite wouldn’t go through a similar exercise themselves, rather than running with the ramblings of one Mark Crossin who has some interest in Labor Party affairs.
My staff rang McGregor Marketing and McGregor Marketing confirmed that there was no polling being conducted on behalf of the Northern Territory government. They confirmed that straightaway. They did say they are conducting ‘omnibus’ polling. Omnibus polling, Territorians need to understand, is polling conducted on a wide range of issues for a number of organisations. Part of the ‘omnibus’ polling, they revealed, had to do with recycling.
This is like charades - pretty simple stuff. My cautious staff said: ‘Recycling? That sounds like the council. Darwin City Council might have an interest in recycling’. They confirmed with Darwin City Council that it was in fact local government, Darwin City Council, conducting this particular polling.
The point I want to make is that this is the House of the people. This is the House where we are supposed to conduct ourselves in reasonable debate. Now, I can understand a misunderstanding on the part of the Labor Party. What I can’t understand is the member for Nhulunbuy, for example, climbing up in this House in his budget reply and rambling on about the government’s involvement in …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: What I can’t understand, and what Territorians are being deceived by, is the member for Nhulunbuy and others getting up in this House and rambling on about government deception, the government conducting polling that is somehow mischievous and deceitful to Territorians - at the same time, I suggest, knowing full well that every word they uttered was an untruth.
If you didn’t know that, you should not only sack your staff, you should sack yourselves. My staff established this in about 5 minutes flat. This thing has been running on and in the media, based on the deliberate untruth that was raised in this Chamber.
I wait with interest for the Leader of the Opposition to tell me who killed John F Kennedy. They’re really into the old grassy knoll theory, this mob. This is calculated and deliberate deception. If that’s the policy advice you’ve received from your southern masters, Territorians will see straight through it.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016