Mrs HICKEY - 1998-12-02
In the budget before the last election, I told this House:
The pain will come after the election if the Country Liberal Party is returned to power. As it has done after every election since 1978, the Country Liberal Party will attack the pockets, the jobs and the services of Territorians as soon as it is politically safe to do so. This is political cynicism at its very worst.
Yesterday’s Planning for Growth statement realised my worst fears: 700 positions axed, hospital and essential services under threat, valuable programs cut. Why did the Chief Minister betray Territorians by failing to come clean before the last election?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, had the Leader of the Opposition listened to the statement as delivered by the Treasurer and the Deputy Chief Minister, she would not be on her feet asking this question today. Before she attempts to tag either myself or the Northern Territory government with some feigned slash-and-burn approach, I remind her that we are in the business of creating jobs. In the 12 months since the 1997 election, on the ABS figures, we have, in fact, created an additional 9700 jobs. We had gone to the electorate with the promise of 15 000 new jobs. So, in the first 12 months, we were out there building the private sector and, at the same time, looking at ways in which we could be smarter in government.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Labor Party members can shout and scream as much as they want, but people are not being sacked. I repeat: people are not being sacked. There are no forced redundancies. We are in a cycle of unprecedented growth in the Northern Territory. Look at other jurisdictions around Australia and make the obvious comparisons. You see growth averaging out at close to 5%, you see one of the highest disposable incomes in all of Australia, you see the lowest unemployment rate at 4.1%. If you picked up your newspaper yesterday you would have seen the population growth also leading Australia. That means we need a public service that is finely tuned and responsive to a growth cycle, and that’s exactly what government is doing.
Ms Martin: Rubbish!
Mr STONE: The member for Fannie Bay interjects: ‘Rubbish’. I would have thought she would be on her feet applauding the government for the fact that we’re putting more teachers into schools, that we’re putting greater resources into the coalface of education. Isn’t it typical? All you get from the Labor Party is knock, knock, knock - always critical, always negative, not prepared ever to look at the whole picture ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr STONE: Not a single person – if the member for Fannie Bay would be quiet – not a single person is being sacked. Not a single forced redundancy is being carried through. What you have here is a sensible and responsible approach to government.
Labor Party members sit opposite and condemn any notion that there could be a partnership between the public and private sectors. I say to Territorians listening to this broadcast, go and have a look at their own platform, because they foreshadowed the same things that the CLP government has been prepared to embrace. These people sitting opposite speak out of both sides of their mouth.
If the Leader of the Opposition is so concerned about government expenditure and government jobs, she has a big task to explain why she wasted $14 000 of taxpayers’ money to rip out a window in her office so her staffer could have a door to walk out onto the balcony. Don’t come in here feigning concern when you pull those sort of stunts. You spent $14 000 to rip out a window so that your staffer now has his own door. No minister has ever pulled that stunt. You come in here feigning concern, but you have no problems about spending $14 000 to replace a window with a door so that your staffer can walk out onto the balcony.
The pain will come after the election if the Country Liberal Party is returned to power. As it has done after every election since 1978, the Country Liberal Party will attack the pockets, the jobs and the services of Territorians as soon as it is politically safe to do so. This is political cynicism at its very worst.
Yesterday’s Planning for Growth statement realised my worst fears: 700 positions axed, hospital and essential services under threat, valuable programs cut. Why did the Chief Minister betray Territorians by failing to come clean before the last election?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, had the Leader of the Opposition listened to the statement as delivered by the Treasurer and the Deputy Chief Minister, she would not be on her feet asking this question today. Before she attempts to tag either myself or the Northern Territory government with some feigned slash-and-burn approach, I remind her that we are in the business of creating jobs. In the 12 months since the 1997 election, on the ABS figures, we have, in fact, created an additional 9700 jobs. We had gone to the electorate with the promise of 15 000 new jobs. So, in the first 12 months, we were out there building the private sector and, at the same time, looking at ways in which we could be smarter in government.
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Labor Party members can shout and scream as much as they want, but people are not being sacked. I repeat: people are not being sacked. There are no forced redundancies. We are in a cycle of unprecedented growth in the Northern Territory. Look at other jurisdictions around Australia and make the obvious comparisons. You see growth averaging out at close to 5%, you see one of the highest disposable incomes in all of Australia, you see the lowest unemployment rate at 4.1%. If you picked up your newspaper yesterday you would have seen the population growth also leading Australia. That means we need a public service that is finely tuned and responsive to a growth cycle, and that’s exactly what government is doing.
Ms Martin: Rubbish!
Mr STONE: The member for Fannie Bay interjects: ‘Rubbish’. I would have thought she would be on her feet applauding the government for the fact that we’re putting more teachers into schools, that we’re putting greater resources into the coalface of education. Isn’t it typical? All you get from the Labor Party is knock, knock, knock - always critical, always negative, not prepared ever to look at the whole picture ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr STONE: Not a single person – if the member for Fannie Bay would be quiet – not a single person is being sacked. Not a single forced redundancy is being carried through. What you have here is a sensible and responsible approach to government.
Labor Party members sit opposite and condemn any notion that there could be a partnership between the public and private sectors. I say to Territorians listening to this broadcast, go and have a look at their own platform, because they foreshadowed the same things that the CLP government has been prepared to embrace. These people sitting opposite speak out of both sides of their mouth.
If the Leader of the Opposition is so concerned about government expenditure and government jobs, she has a big task to explain why she wasted $14 000 of taxpayers’ money to rip out a window in her office so her staffer could have a door to walk out onto the balcony. Don’t come in here feigning concern when you pull those sort of stunts. You spent $14 000 to rip out a window so that your staffer now has his own door. No minister has ever pulled that stunt. You come in here feigning concern, but you have no problems about spending $14 000 to replace a window with a door so that your staffer can walk out onto the balcony.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016