Mr ELFERINK - 2000-10-12
Over the last year or so I have been very critical of the performance of members opposite in relation to how they operate in this Chamber and in the debates.
Yesterday’s debate is a classic example where not one person from the members opposite voted for the Leader of the Opposition’s motion. Now we hear the Leader of the Opposition claiming that it is the government’s fault. What is your response to that?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, yesterday’s conduct from the Leader of the Opposition was, in any other context, laughable in its ineptness, but frankly, sad, when one considers what has happened in this Chamber over the last few days …
Mrs HICKEY: Point of order, Mr Speaker. I believe that the question asked by the honourable member for Macdonnell is asking the Chief Minister for an opinion, an opinion on the matter that was raised yesterday not for an issue of fact and I would ask you to rule on that.
Mr SPEAKER: It wasn’t my interpretation. Could I just hear what the member for Macdonnell has to say in clarification.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, my question was quite specific in relation to an allegation by the Leader of the Opposition that it was the government’s fault.
Mr SPEAKER: I would accept the question because the Chief Minister has a very broad responsibility here in this Chamber and I would like to hear the answer.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, one would recall that in questions in this House I have raised on a number of occasions the want of the Leader of the Opposition on every occasion to attempt to mislead. She suffers from some problem in that it is extremely difficult for her to reach for the truth when the truth on many occasions is readily available.
Yesterday was a classic example where the Leader of the Opposition came into this house with her manifesto for good governance. Her manifesto of how we would have vigorous and stimulating debate in this Chamber and how she would clean up government in the Northern Territory. It was a corner stone of her policy and I am sure a corner stone of the policies that she will go to the next election with. The government treated the debate quite seriously. I understand there were seven members on this side of the House…
Ms Martin: Contemptuously.
Mr BURKE: She does not like to hear these things but Territorians are interested.
There were seven members on this side of the House who participated in that debate. There were only two members on the other side of the House - the Leader of the Opposition and a poor 17 minutes from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
When it came for the vote to be called in this Chamber, the Leader of the Opposition and most of her colleagues were absent from the Chamber. Two members who were in the Chamber made no response as to whether they supported or otherwise the motion, because they did not know what was going on.
What is worse, when questioned on her conduct and why she was not here to participate in the vote on her most important motion, on their most important day – the General Business Day – this is the answer the Leader of the Opposition gave: ‘One of their minister’s, Peter Adamson, decided to cut his time in the House and they called a vote very quickly. We could not get them from the lobby into the House. That was simply it. We knew anyway it was not going to be supported’.
Of all the motions they put yesterday that were not supported, they called divisions in this House so to suggest that…
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: So to suggest Territorians should be aware – they do not like to hear this, that is why they try to gag and drown out the broadcast and I apologise to Territorians for that.
You cannot say that because we were not going to support the vote there was no reason to participate because they called divisions on other motions that were not supported during the course of the day. That is a first attempt to mislead.
The second one is Peter Adamson cut his time short and we could not make it from the lobby into the Chamber. Now deary me, it is 11 steps. My colleague, the Leader of the Government Business, walked it this morning. At the outset it could be 20 steps because he is a big stepper.
Now if you have your own motion for debate, an extremely important motion, the responsibility – if you are one who calls for vigorous parliamentary debate is to be in the Chamber and participate and be prepared to vote on your own motion. But when called to account there is an absolute consistency with this Leader of the Opposition - she lies. She automatically lies.
Mr STIRLING: Point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The Chief Minister cannot infer that the Leader of the Opposition has lied.
Mr BURKE: I withdraw. She consistently misrepresents the situation. Yesterday, her immediate reaction was to blame Mr Adamson because he cut his time short. Well the government members conduct business in the way the government intends them to. It is the opposition’s responsibility to be in the Chamber and participate in the debate and what we see with the Leader of the Opposition is absolute consistency. When called to account, mislead. When called to account, mislead at every opportunity. What we have with the Leader of the Opposition is the most dishonest and the laziest Leader of the Opposition we have ever had in the Northern Territory.
Yesterday’s debate is a classic example where not one person from the members opposite voted for the Leader of the Opposition’s motion. Now we hear the Leader of the Opposition claiming that it is the government’s fault. What is your response to that?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, yesterday’s conduct from the Leader of the Opposition was, in any other context, laughable in its ineptness, but frankly, sad, when one considers what has happened in this Chamber over the last few days …
Mrs HICKEY: Point of order, Mr Speaker. I believe that the question asked by the honourable member for Macdonnell is asking the Chief Minister for an opinion, an opinion on the matter that was raised yesterday not for an issue of fact and I would ask you to rule on that.
Mr SPEAKER: It wasn’t my interpretation. Could I just hear what the member for Macdonnell has to say in clarification.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, my question was quite specific in relation to an allegation by the Leader of the Opposition that it was the government’s fault.
Mr SPEAKER: I would accept the question because the Chief Minister has a very broad responsibility here in this Chamber and I would like to hear the answer.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, one would recall that in questions in this House I have raised on a number of occasions the want of the Leader of the Opposition on every occasion to attempt to mislead. She suffers from some problem in that it is extremely difficult for her to reach for the truth when the truth on many occasions is readily available.
Yesterday was a classic example where the Leader of the Opposition came into this house with her manifesto for good governance. Her manifesto of how we would have vigorous and stimulating debate in this Chamber and how she would clean up government in the Northern Territory. It was a corner stone of her policy and I am sure a corner stone of the policies that she will go to the next election with. The government treated the debate quite seriously. I understand there were seven members on this side of the House…
Ms Martin: Contemptuously.
Mr BURKE: She does not like to hear these things but Territorians are interested.
There were seven members on this side of the House who participated in that debate. There were only two members on the other side of the House - the Leader of the Opposition and a poor 17 minutes from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
When it came for the vote to be called in this Chamber, the Leader of the Opposition and most of her colleagues were absent from the Chamber. Two members who were in the Chamber made no response as to whether they supported or otherwise the motion, because they did not know what was going on.
What is worse, when questioned on her conduct and why she was not here to participate in the vote on her most important motion, on their most important day – the General Business Day – this is the answer the Leader of the Opposition gave: ‘One of their minister’s, Peter Adamson, decided to cut his time in the House and they called a vote very quickly. We could not get them from the lobby into the House. That was simply it. We knew anyway it was not going to be supported’.
Of all the motions they put yesterday that were not supported, they called divisions in this House so to suggest that…
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: So to suggest Territorians should be aware – they do not like to hear this, that is why they try to gag and drown out the broadcast and I apologise to Territorians for that.
You cannot say that because we were not going to support the vote there was no reason to participate because they called divisions on other motions that were not supported during the course of the day. That is a first attempt to mislead.
The second one is Peter Adamson cut his time short and we could not make it from the lobby into the Chamber. Now deary me, it is 11 steps. My colleague, the Leader of the Government Business, walked it this morning. At the outset it could be 20 steps because he is a big stepper.
Now if you have your own motion for debate, an extremely important motion, the responsibility – if you are one who calls for vigorous parliamentary debate is to be in the Chamber and participate and be prepared to vote on your own motion. But when called to account there is an absolute consistency with this Leader of the Opposition - she lies. She automatically lies.
Mr STIRLING: Point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The Chief Minister cannot infer that the Leader of the Opposition has lied.
Mr BURKE: I withdraw. She consistently misrepresents the situation. Yesterday, her immediate reaction was to blame Mr Adamson because he cut his time short. Well the government members conduct business in the way the government intends them to. It is the opposition’s responsibility to be in the Chamber and participate in the debate and what we see with the Leader of the Opposition is absolute consistency. When called to account, mislead. When called to account, mislead at every opportunity. What we have with the Leader of the Opposition is the most dishonest and the laziest Leader of the Opposition we have ever had in the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016