Mrs HICKEY - 1998-02-24
The Chief Minister told the people's constitutional convention in Canberra that he believed it was imperative that Australians should be granted the democratic right to have a vote when it comes to selecting a president. He lectured those opposing giving Australians a right to vote on selecting a president, saying: 'I find it extraordinary that this people's convention is so terrified of democracy'. Will he explain why he claims to believe so passionately in democracy when it suits him when, under the Shane Stone plot for statehood, he has refused to give Territorians the democratic right to vote on the Northern Territory's proposed state constitution? Why is the Chief Minister so terrified of democracy?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. It is one that I would have expected in the first week - in fact, on the first day of these sittings. I said more than that. I said that the Australian people must have a sense of ownership in the model of the republic and, indeed, in the selection of a president. If not, they would have no interest and the referendum on the republic would probably fail. In that very same spirit, in a ministerial statement I delivered at the last sittings in 1997, I outlined a system of selection of delegates to the Statehood Convention.
If the Leader of the Opposition believes, and continues to state in the Territory community, that delegates are not being elected to the Statehood Convention, she does the whole process a disservice. As I speak, 28 ethnic community representatives are vying for election in a ballot being conducted by the Northern Territory Electoral Office. Why is the Leader of the Opposition claiming that Territorians are not being given an opportunity to elect their delegates?
Mrs Hickey: What about Territorians ...
Mr STONE: In fact, Madam Speaker ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Here we go! The interjections have started. They do not want the people listening to this broadcast to hear the answer because the simple fact is that a very large number of those delegates are being elected by the various sectional groups. In some cases ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: We have ...
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Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Madam Speaker, it is impossible to speak over the top of rude interjections.
Madam SPEAKER: I agree. Members of the opposition, give the Chief Minister a chance to answer the question in silence.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr STONE: Who is in charge of the rabble over there?
Madam Speaker, sectional groups have the opportunity to elect their delegates. In the case of ATSIC and the land councils, we have said to those organisations that, if they are prepared to select the candidates according to their own criteria, that is a matter for them. The model that I presented to this Assembly will guarantee absolutely a greater diversity of delegates than would have been possible if we had simply gone into the wider electorate. There would not have been 4 ethnic representatives. There would not have been ATSIC representatives elected in the wider community.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: You can speculate. I will say that I was not prepared to take that chance and gamble away the opportunity of ordinary Territorians being able to play a role in this convention.
What this little attack demonstrates is that the Labor Party in the Territory is receiving its riding instructions from down south yet again. What was the first thing that Kim Beazley did as Leader of the Opposition when he stood up in the constitutional convention in Canberra? He bagged the process. He bagged the forum. He tried to discount the convention before it had even started. That is exactly what the Labor Party is attempting to do here. The Labor Party wants to hijack the Statehood Convention. It seeks to deny different sectional and community groups the opportunity to ...
Mr Bailey: You are lying.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will withdraw that remark.
Mr BAILEY: I withdraw the remark.
Mr STONE: Madam Speaker, the point is that the process that has been put in place is transparent. It is there for all to see. It is out in the public arena. The only people complaining are the whingers sitting over there. That is consistent with everything that they do in the Territory. They are 'poorly led and not fit to govern', and they have demonstrated it once again.
Madam SPEAKER: I remind ministers that I would like them to keep their answers short.
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ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. It is one that I would have expected in the first week - in fact, on the first day of these sittings. I said more than that. I said that the Australian people must have a sense of ownership in the model of the republic and, indeed, in the selection of a president. If not, they would have no interest and the referendum on the republic would probably fail. In that very same spirit, in a ministerial statement I delivered at the last sittings in 1997, I outlined a system of selection of delegates to the Statehood Convention.
If the Leader of the Opposition believes, and continues to state in the Territory community, that delegates are not being elected to the Statehood Convention, she does the whole process a disservice. As I speak, 28 ethnic community representatives are vying for election in a ballot being conducted by the Northern Territory Electoral Office. Why is the Leader of the Opposition claiming that Territorians are not being given an opportunity to elect their delegates?
Mrs Hickey: What about Territorians ...
Mr STONE: In fact, Madam Speaker ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Here we go! The interjections have started. They do not want the people listening to this broadcast to hear the answer because the simple fact is that a very large number of those delegates are being elected by the various sectional groups. In some cases ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: We have ...
Page 1
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: Madam Speaker, it is impossible to speak over the top of rude interjections.
Madam SPEAKER: I agree. Members of the opposition, give the Chief Minister a chance to answer the question in silence.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr STONE: Who is in charge of the rabble over there?
Madam Speaker, sectional groups have the opportunity to elect their delegates. In the case of ATSIC and the land councils, we have said to those organisations that, if they are prepared to select the candidates according to their own criteria, that is a matter for them. The model that I presented to this Assembly will guarantee absolutely a greater diversity of delegates than would have been possible if we had simply gone into the wider electorate. There would not have been 4 ethnic representatives. There would not have been ATSIC representatives elected in the wider community.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: You can speculate. I will say that I was not prepared to take that chance and gamble away the opportunity of ordinary Territorians being able to play a role in this convention.
What this little attack demonstrates is that the Labor Party in the Territory is receiving its riding instructions from down south yet again. What was the first thing that Kim Beazley did as Leader of the Opposition when he stood up in the constitutional convention in Canberra? He bagged the process. He bagged the forum. He tried to discount the convention before it had even started. That is exactly what the Labor Party is attempting to do here. The Labor Party wants to hijack the Statehood Convention. It seeks to deny different sectional and community groups the opportunity to ...
Mr Bailey: You are lying.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The member for Wanguri will withdraw that remark.
Mr BAILEY: I withdraw the remark.
Mr STONE: Madam Speaker, the point is that the process that has been put in place is transparent. It is there for all to see. It is out in the public arena. The only people complaining are the whingers sitting over there. That is consistent with everything that they do in the Territory. They are 'poorly led and not fit to govern', and they have demonstrated it once again.
Madam SPEAKER: I remind ministers that I would like them to keep their answers short.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016