Dr LIM - 2000-10-11
On another matter of the Leader of the Opposition misleading Territorians, can the Chief Minister, as the minister responsible for the Department of the Legislative Assembly, advise the House what has happened to the car issued to the member for Arafura?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have been advised the lowest estimated cost to repair the damage is $23 514, although the repairers were only quoting on the damage they could see and indicated there may be more when, and if, they disassemble the vehicle. In the circumstances it has been decided to sell the vehicle in an ‘as is’ condition as NT Fleet generally do not repair vehicles with this extent of damage. Therefore, you could say it is a virtual write-off as far as NT Fleet is concerned in the same way that the Leader of the Opposition has written-off the career of the member for Arafura.
It has been a pretty sorry saga, this whole business, another example of how this Leader of the Opposition operates. She first tried to deceive the media and steer them away from the story by claiming in the Northern Territory News on Tuesday 12 September that Mr Rioli was not driving his vehicle at the time of the accident because he felt unwell and hopped out to let someone else drive. When confronted with the government’s information that Mr Rioli was not even in the vicinity of the accident when his car ploughed into a power pole at Maningrida, the Opposition Leader became unclear as to whether Mr Rioli actually hopped back into the car after he had hopped out.
Significantly, the Opposition Leader hid from the media that Mr Rioli had willingly given the keys of his government car to someone who was not only unauthorised to drive it but was also unlicensed, something that she was in possession of, the facts that she was in possession of, for some days. The NT News were trying to get that information from her and it was only when Mr Rioli was contacted by the media, Mr Rioli himself told the true situation as it was. The Leader of the Opposition was forced to then try and change her story and made the most astounding statement. The Leader of the Opposition said, when pushed: ‘If you know Maurice, he disappears’. Think, think, think. That is how Maurice does it, and when pushed to say something in support of Mr Rioli’s performance as a member of the Labor opposition in the Northern Territory, she simply avoided the question.
Not only is this Leader of the Opposition a deceiver but she simply abandons people in their time of need and I believe not only is this another case of deception but it shows the true character of the Leader of the Opposition.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have been advised the lowest estimated cost to repair the damage is $23 514, although the repairers were only quoting on the damage they could see and indicated there may be more when, and if, they disassemble the vehicle. In the circumstances it has been decided to sell the vehicle in an ‘as is’ condition as NT Fleet generally do not repair vehicles with this extent of damage. Therefore, you could say it is a virtual write-off as far as NT Fleet is concerned in the same way that the Leader of the Opposition has written-off the career of the member for Arafura.
It has been a pretty sorry saga, this whole business, another example of how this Leader of the Opposition operates. She first tried to deceive the media and steer them away from the story by claiming in the Northern Territory News on Tuesday 12 September that Mr Rioli was not driving his vehicle at the time of the accident because he felt unwell and hopped out to let someone else drive. When confronted with the government’s information that Mr Rioli was not even in the vicinity of the accident when his car ploughed into a power pole at Maningrida, the Opposition Leader became unclear as to whether Mr Rioli actually hopped back into the car after he had hopped out.
Significantly, the Opposition Leader hid from the media that Mr Rioli had willingly given the keys of his government car to someone who was not only unauthorised to drive it but was also unlicensed, something that she was in possession of, the facts that she was in possession of, for some days. The NT News were trying to get that information from her and it was only when Mr Rioli was contacted by the media, Mr Rioli himself told the true situation as it was. The Leader of the Opposition was forced to then try and change her story and made the most astounding statement. The Leader of the Opposition said, when pushed: ‘If you know Maurice, he disappears’. Think, think, think. That is how Maurice does it, and when pushed to say something in support of Mr Rioli’s performance as a member of the Labor opposition in the Northern Territory, she simply avoided the question.
Not only is this Leader of the Opposition a deceiver but she simply abandons people in their time of need and I believe not only is this another case of deception but it shows the true character of the Leader of the Opposition.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016