Mrs HICKEY - 1998-12-03
Yesterday, on ABC radio, Gary Morgan, a polling expert who has done a lot of polling for the Liberal Party, said he had never heard of piggyback polling along the lines the Chief Minister engineered in 1990. He thought a piggyback exercise would see an even split of the costs - not the government paying 90%, which is what happened with the Chief Minister’s 1990 exercise. Mr Morgan said to keep government polling operations above board, a government should publicly call for tenders when conducting polling, make public the results of government-paid polling and make public the fees paid to pollsters. Will the Chief Minister accept these recommendations?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, in the time that I have been Chief Minister I have made full disclosure in this parliament of the polling undertaken during my term of office, the amounts spent and the topics that have been polled. I have extended to the Leader of the Opposition detailed briefings, where she has sought them, on the polling ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Go back and look through Hansard and you will see that that is exactly what has happened. You can’t argue with Hansard. I’m sorry, it’s in Hansard. So I don’t need Gary Morgan to tell me what to do when, in fact, I’ve been doing it for 4 years.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: I would like to be heard because this is an important issue.
The record speaks for itself. I called to my office for extracts of the Hansard. I have had them extracted and I will table them. I will demonstrate exactly what I have done. To anyone listening to this broadcast, let it be clearly understood that while I have been Chief Minister that is the way I have conducted polling here in the Territory. I can also say that at no time that I have been Chief Minister has there been any sharing of research with the CLP. I can give that unequivocal assurance, and I do it in open parliament, on the record.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr STONE: You can interject straight-faced. But one does not make those sorts of statements, knowing the consequences if they are not true. And they are true. That is the way I operate.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Wanguri.
Mr STONE: Going back to 1990, to pick up their earlier interjection and the question, this is a period of time when I was not even here in this parliament. I was not the elected member for Port Darwin …
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Will you let me be heard? Will you have the courtesy and the manners to be quiet, so people can listen to the broadcast?
We demolished this conspiracy theory during these sittings. We demolished it by producing ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr STONE: I find this hopeless, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri, this is your last warning. Keep it up and you are out.
Mr STONE: I demonstrated during these sittings that the CLP had a separate contractual relationship with the pollster for a predetermined amount. It was set out in the contract. It is there in writing.
Mr Bailey: And who signed it?
Mr STONE: It was signed by the pollster as well as myself as CLP party president. I had our own arrangements for the party. Then you get the conspiracy theory, and the allegation by the Labor Party that there was this tap on the shoulder after the event, and the ‘Don’t you worry, son, it’s 90% to 10%’ theory. That allegation was completely demolished when we produced evidence of the pre-existing contracts. You cannot climb over that. You can shout and scream and interject, but you cannot argue with the facts.
And these are the facts of it. Firstly, I don’t need Gary Morgan lecturing me as Chief Minister on how to conduct polling, because I do it scrupulously, above board, with full disclosure. Secondly, governments are entitled to poll on a range of issues. Thirdly, the Leader of the Opposition has been offered briefings on each and every occasion.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, in the time that I have been Chief Minister I have made full disclosure in this parliament of the polling undertaken during my term of office, the amounts spent and the topics that have been polled. I have extended to the Leader of the Opposition detailed briefings, where she has sought them, on the polling ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Go back and look through Hansard and you will see that that is exactly what has happened. You can’t argue with Hansard. I’m sorry, it’s in Hansard. So I don’t need Gary Morgan to tell me what to do when, in fact, I’ve been doing it for 4 years.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: I would like to be heard because this is an important issue.
The record speaks for itself. I called to my office for extracts of the Hansard. I have had them extracted and I will table them. I will demonstrate exactly what I have done. To anyone listening to this broadcast, let it be clearly understood that while I have been Chief Minister that is the way I have conducted polling here in the Territory. I can also say that at no time that I have been Chief Minister has there been any sharing of research with the CLP. I can give that unequivocal assurance, and I do it in open parliament, on the record.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr STONE: You can interject straight-faced. But one does not make those sorts of statements, knowing the consequences if they are not true. And they are true. That is the way I operate.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Wanguri.
Mr STONE: Going back to 1990, to pick up their earlier interjection and the question, this is a period of time when I was not even here in this parliament. I was not the elected member for Port Darwin …
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Will you let me be heard? Will you have the courtesy and the manners to be quiet, so people can listen to the broadcast?
We demolished this conspiracy theory during these sittings. We demolished it by producing ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr STONE: I find this hopeless, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri, this is your last warning. Keep it up and you are out.
Mr STONE: I demonstrated during these sittings that the CLP had a separate contractual relationship with the pollster for a predetermined amount. It was set out in the contract. It is there in writing.
Mr Bailey: And who signed it?
Mr STONE: It was signed by the pollster as well as myself as CLP party president. I had our own arrangements for the party. Then you get the conspiracy theory, and the allegation by the Labor Party that there was this tap on the shoulder after the event, and the ‘Don’t you worry, son, it’s 90% to 10%’ theory. That allegation was completely demolished when we produced evidence of the pre-existing contracts. You cannot climb over that. You can shout and scream and interject, but you cannot argue with the facts.
And these are the facts of it. Firstly, I don’t need Gary Morgan lecturing me as Chief Minister on how to conduct polling, because I do it scrupulously, above board, with full disclosure. Secondly, governments are entitled to poll on a range of issues. Thirdly, the Leader of the Opposition has been offered briefings on each and every occasion.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016