Mrs HICKEY - 1998-12-03
Over the past 2 weeks, we have tabled documents which we say demonstrate that he and other Country Liberal Party operatives have been engaged in corrupt activities. He has countered by claiming we have forged and doctored documents and deliberately misled Territorians. To give him and all concerned a chance to get to the bottom of what he and the other Country Liberal Party operatives have done, and to put his counter-allegations to the test, will he support Labor’s move to establish an independent inquiry?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I picked up the newspaper this morning and I saw a reference to forged ALP documents. The opposition has tried over 2 weeks to create the impression that there was some contrived conspiracy to defraud the taxpayer, but it has not demonstrated that.
I say to members opposite, and to those listening to this broadcast, that notwithstanding the fact that they make allegations against me for a period of time when I wasn’t even in this parliament, and say I should somehow accept responsibility ...
Mr Bailey: You were party president.
Mr STONE: They also tender documents relating to a period in 1993 when I was one of 9 ministers, not the Chief Minister, and say I should accept responsibility. Then they get caught with a dodgy document.I challenged them yesterday: if it was the real document, if it was not a forgery, where is the rest of it?
Mrs Hickey: What?
Mr STONE: ‘What?’ she asks. Where is rest of the information?
The pollster has reaffirmed to me that these are not his documents and these are not his words. You have misled ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: You can tell when they are under pressure. They start interjecting and shouting because they don’t want Territorians to hear.
They have not produced a shred of written evidence that would suggest any wrongdoing. They even concocted this story about a tap on the shoulder, 3 months after the event, and then when we produced the contracts, they said: ‘Oh, don’t worry about that’. There was a pre-existing contract for copyrighted information.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr STONE: The member for Nhulunbuy interjects. Come on, I have been here for 2 weeks. This was your media release, your own words. No one made you write this. It is all your own work: ‘Meanwhile the entire exercise is secretly videotaped and secretly observed by Country Liberal Party officials and minders behind a viewing wall’. That media release is from Syd Stirling MLA. You have had 2 weeks to produce the evidence. Here we are on the last day of sittings and you still haven’t put up. It’s as good as your so-called ‘leaked report’. Two weeks out from the sittings, you said you had a confidential report that said the government was going to go down a particular path.
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Chief Minister was asked a very simple question as to whether he would support an inquiry. All these matters can be debated if an inquiry is held. I ask you to direct him to answer the question. It is a very simple question requiring a simple yes or no answer.
Mr Stone: A lot of assertions were made in that question.
Madam SPEAKER: I remind opposition members, you are too noisy this morning. Settle down.
Mr STONE: The member for Nhulunbuy goes out and grabs a headline. He cons the press into believing that he has this information. They go along with him. Now here we are in the parliament for 2 weeks and all we have got were interjections of ‘just you wait’.Well, I have been waiting. I have not seen any persuasive information, written or otherwise, that would support any notion of an inquiry. The answer is no - absolutely no. I am not going to waste taxpayers’ money on your fraudulent lies.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri, you are on a warning.
Mr STONE: If the best you can do is simply shout across the Chamber, it won’t work. The document that you pinned all your hopes on was a forgery.
Mr Bailey: Prove it.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri, you are on a warning. If you continue, you will be out.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I picked up the newspaper this morning and I saw a reference to forged ALP documents. The opposition has tried over 2 weeks to create the impression that there was some contrived conspiracy to defraud the taxpayer, but it has not demonstrated that.
I say to members opposite, and to those listening to this broadcast, that notwithstanding the fact that they make allegations against me for a period of time when I wasn’t even in this parliament, and say I should somehow accept responsibility ...
Mr Bailey: You were party president.
Mr STONE: They also tender documents relating to a period in 1993 when I was one of 9 ministers, not the Chief Minister, and say I should accept responsibility. Then they get caught with a dodgy document.I challenged them yesterday: if it was the real document, if it was not a forgery, where is the rest of it?
Mrs Hickey: What?
Mr STONE: ‘What?’ she asks. Where is rest of the information?
The pollster has reaffirmed to me that these are not his documents and these are not his words. You have misled ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STONE: You can tell when they are under pressure. They start interjecting and shouting because they don’t want Territorians to hear.
They have not produced a shred of written evidence that would suggest any wrongdoing. They even concocted this story about a tap on the shoulder, 3 months after the event, and then when we produced the contracts, they said: ‘Oh, don’t worry about that’. There was a pre-existing contract for copyrighted information.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr STONE: The member for Nhulunbuy interjects. Come on, I have been here for 2 weeks. This was your media release, your own words. No one made you write this. It is all your own work: ‘Meanwhile the entire exercise is secretly videotaped and secretly observed by Country Liberal Party officials and minders behind a viewing wall’. That media release is from Syd Stirling MLA. You have had 2 weeks to produce the evidence. Here we are on the last day of sittings and you still haven’t put up. It’s as good as your so-called ‘leaked report’. Two weeks out from the sittings, you said you had a confidential report that said the government was going to go down a particular path.
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Chief Minister was asked a very simple question as to whether he would support an inquiry. All these matters can be debated if an inquiry is held. I ask you to direct him to answer the question. It is a very simple question requiring a simple yes or no answer.
Mr Stone: A lot of assertions were made in that question.
Madam SPEAKER: I remind opposition members, you are too noisy this morning. Settle down.
Mr STONE: The member for Nhulunbuy goes out and grabs a headline. He cons the press into believing that he has this information. They go along with him. Now here we are in the parliament for 2 weeks and all we have got were interjections of ‘just you wait’.Well, I have been waiting. I have not seen any persuasive information, written or otherwise, that would support any notion of an inquiry. The answer is no - absolutely no. I am not going to waste taxpayers’ money on your fraudulent lies.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri, you are on a warning.
Mr STONE: If the best you can do is simply shout across the Chamber, it won’t work. The document that you pinned all your hopes on was a forgery.
Mr Bailey: Prove it.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri, you are on a warning. If you continue, you will be out.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016