Mrs HICKEY - 1997-12-04
Since the August election, the Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment has attempted unlawfully to knock down a heritage site in Alice Springs, the Minister for Parks and Wildlife has tried to drain a gorge in central Australia, the Minister for Local Government has shut down a council, the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services has been caught in a Sydney sex shop buying an illegal gay pornographic video about firemen, the Deputy Chief Minister concocted a story to save the political backside of his mate and was caught out, the Minister for Asian Relations, Trade and Industry appointed one of his old Country Liberal Party mates to a cosy consultancy in his department and, to top it all off, after the election the Chief Minister gave himself the Attorney-General’s portfolio, appointed himself a QC and, when lawyers protested, decided that he will determine who is given government legal work. That is his record in the last 3 months. We know the Chief Minister will never agree ...
Madam SPEAKER: Order! What is your question?
Mrs HICKEY: ... but he has had a terrible fortnight. I am coming to it, Madam Speaker. Will the Chief Minister, after those 3 terrible months and his terrible fortnight in this House, give us an assurance that he and his government will get their act together?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I consider that the last 2 weeks of sittings have been appalling, not from my perspective but rather because all the important issues which needed to be discussed during these sittings were pushed aside in the interests of a trivial matter that preoccupied the time of this House for 4 or 5 days. If members of the opposition have deluded themselves that they have had a good sittings, then I suggest they start talking to a few people in the streets. Territorians are not amused. The taxpayers are not amused. They entrust to their elected representatives the very heavy responsibility of debating important issues of state. While they may have found some of these matters titillating initially and of some amusement, they expected more of their parliament.
In fact, parallels are being drawn with the so-called travel rorts affair in Canberra. People have been saying to me: ‘We know that lot in Canberra are out of control and become caught up in the trivia, but we expect more of the Territory parliament’. There are important issues that simply have not been addressed. This was the great opportunity for opposition members to ask a raft of questions.
Mrs Hickey: Knocking down a heritage building?
Mr STONE: Let me pick up the interjection. If it was such an important issue, why did you not pursue it at greater length instead of sacrificing it to the matters that you wanted to allege against the Deputy Chief Minister?
Members opposite have been writing to us, as they are entitled to do, asking questions. This is how the system works. They can stand up in this parliament or they can write letters to ministers, asking for information. I can tell members opposite that I will be responding to any such letters in the foreseeable future, saying that they should have used their time in Question Time instead of squandering the opportunity to ask about a number of these matters.
Mr Bailey: You do not answer them when we ask them anyway.
Mr STONE: If you want the briefings, ask for them, but do not come into this Chamber and waste your time on this kind of nonsense. If you think that this government has had such a rough time since August ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: Do I look like someone who has been ruffled by any of it? It simply washes over me. I am here to govern. I have always said to Territorians that I am not here to be loved or to be popular. I am here to get on with the job. It was on that basis that I went to the polls. I have never kidded myself for one moment that Territorians were having a love affair with me. What they recognise is that I have an effective government that gets things done. That is why they voted 58.1% on a 2-party preferred vote and sent you lot back into
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political oblivion because you are nothing but a bunch of losers. Imagine a Labor government! 'Poorly led and not fit to govern’ - your own research told you that. You are a bunch of losers and, over the last 2 weeks, you have proved it. You have reinforced in the minds of Territorians that you are a bunch of mugs. As we leave this Chamber for the year, one thing is certain - you are still over there. You will be over there for another 4 years, in the wilderness where you deserve to be, because Territorians do not trust you, they do not believe in you and they do not accept for a moment that you have any vision for the Territory.
I want to take this opportunity, as we approach Christmas, to remind Territorians that we have appalling road statistics, particularly at this time of the year. If they are travelling around the Territory or travelling south, I hope that people will be safe on the roads, that all our Territorians come home to us and that, above all, everybody has a very pleasant and very successful 1998.
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Madam SPEAKER: Order! What is your question?
Mrs HICKEY: ... but he has had a terrible fortnight. I am coming to it, Madam Speaker. Will the Chief Minister, after those 3 terrible months and his terrible fortnight in this House, give us an assurance that he and his government will get their act together?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I consider that the last 2 weeks of sittings have been appalling, not from my perspective but rather because all the important issues which needed to be discussed during these sittings were pushed aside in the interests of a trivial matter that preoccupied the time of this House for 4 or 5 days. If members of the opposition have deluded themselves that they have had a good sittings, then I suggest they start talking to a few people in the streets. Territorians are not amused. The taxpayers are not amused. They entrust to their elected representatives the very heavy responsibility of debating important issues of state. While they may have found some of these matters titillating initially and of some amusement, they expected more of their parliament.
In fact, parallels are being drawn with the so-called travel rorts affair in Canberra. People have been saying to me: ‘We know that lot in Canberra are out of control and become caught up in the trivia, but we expect more of the Territory parliament’. There are important issues that simply have not been addressed. This was the great opportunity for opposition members to ask a raft of questions.
Mrs Hickey: Knocking down a heritage building?
Mr STONE: Let me pick up the interjection. If it was such an important issue, why did you not pursue it at greater length instead of sacrificing it to the matters that you wanted to allege against the Deputy Chief Minister?
Members opposite have been writing to us, as they are entitled to do, asking questions. This is how the system works. They can stand up in this parliament or they can write letters to ministers, asking for information. I can tell members opposite that I will be responding to any such letters in the foreseeable future, saying that they should have used their time in Question Time instead of squandering the opportunity to ask about a number of these matters.
Mr Bailey: You do not answer them when we ask them anyway.
Mr STONE: If you want the briefings, ask for them, but do not come into this Chamber and waste your time on this kind of nonsense. If you think that this government has had such a rough time since August ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: Do I look like someone who has been ruffled by any of it? It simply washes over me. I am here to govern. I have always said to Territorians that I am not here to be loved or to be popular. I am here to get on with the job. It was on that basis that I went to the polls. I have never kidded myself for one moment that Territorians were having a love affair with me. What they recognise is that I have an effective government that gets things done. That is why they voted 58.1% on a 2-party preferred vote and sent you lot back into
Page 75
political oblivion because you are nothing but a bunch of losers. Imagine a Labor government! 'Poorly led and not fit to govern’ - your own research told you that. You are a bunch of losers and, over the last 2 weeks, you have proved it. You have reinforced in the minds of Territorians that you are a bunch of mugs. As we leave this Chamber for the year, one thing is certain - you are still over there. You will be over there for another 4 years, in the wilderness where you deserve to be, because Territorians do not trust you, they do not believe in you and they do not accept for a moment that you have any vision for the Territory.
I want to take this opportunity, as we approach Christmas, to remind Territorians that we have appalling road statistics, particularly at this time of the year. If they are travelling around the Territory or travelling south, I hope that people will be safe on the roads, that all our Territorians come home to us and that, above all, everybody has a very pleasant and very successful 1998.
Page 76
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016