Ms MARTIN - 2000-08-08
Will he tell Territorians just how many millions of dollars have been lost in revenue over the past five years by his refusal to process hundreds and hundreds of exploration applications? The number is something like over 900 exploration applications. The government’s pathetic excuse for the past five years has been native title, but at the same time it was using that excuse it was working with the federal native title legislation to acquire native title interest in the railway corridor and in the Merlin diamond mine - just two examples.
Chief Minister, all you have done for five years is play politics, and politics of the ugliest kind. Tell us how many millions of dollars and how many jobs have been lost to the Territory through your incompetence over exploration applications.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, unlike the rabble opposite, the position of the CLP government is consistent and will not change. We will not waste taxpayers’ money and be blackmailed by Aboriginal groups and set a precedent in the Northern Territory…
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: The member for Arnhem has just contributed to this debate consistently, cackling as usual.
The CLP government will not be blackmailed over native title, will not open the chequebook as the member for Arnhem has suggested and write cheques willy-nilly in order to satisfy the sometimes-outrageous claims on native title.
I will give an example. Territorian first-home buyers should know this. We were trying to get the Rosebery development up, and the claim of the Larrakia at Rosebery at the outset was one-third of the completed development. This is somehow native title – hunting, traversing, and foraging. One-third of a completed development of a major estate in the Northern Territory - get real! What we say is we are not going to be held to ransom on native title.
There are some occasions in the national interest – such as the railway – where extensive negotiations are conducted and occasionally a deal can be done. But the Labor Party suggests that the only way you get deals is by rolling over and opening the chequebook. That is no policy this government will ever engage in.
Chief Minister, all you have done for five years is play politics, and politics of the ugliest kind. Tell us how many millions of dollars and how many jobs have been lost to the Territory through your incompetence over exploration applications.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, unlike the rabble opposite, the position of the CLP government is consistent and will not change. We will not waste taxpayers’ money and be blackmailed by Aboriginal groups and set a precedent in the Northern Territory…
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: The member for Arnhem has just contributed to this debate consistently, cackling as usual.
The CLP government will not be blackmailed over native title, will not open the chequebook as the member for Arnhem has suggested and write cheques willy-nilly in order to satisfy the sometimes-outrageous claims on native title.
I will give an example. Territorian first-home buyers should know this. We were trying to get the Rosebery development up, and the claim of the Larrakia at Rosebery at the outset was one-third of the completed development. This is somehow native title – hunting, traversing, and foraging. One-third of a completed development of a major estate in the Northern Territory - get real! What we say is we are not going to be held to ransom on native title.
There are some occasions in the national interest – such as the railway – where extensive negotiations are conducted and occasionally a deal can be done. But the Labor Party suggests that the only way you get deals is by rolling over and opening the chequebook. That is no policy this government will ever engage in.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016