Ms MARTIN - 1999-08-12
Leading up to last year’s statehood referendum debacle, the then Chief Minister and current president of the Liberal Party disregarded the recommendations of a bipartisan parliamentary committee report which set out a thorough and inclusive pathway to Territory statehood. In its place they tried to hijack the process and pursued their own undemocratic one, which predictably failed. Will the Chief Minister guarantee he will not make the same mistake again, and his government will adopt all of the considered recommendations made in the bipartisan parliamentary committee report to be debated today?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition asks me to pre-empt the debate which will happen in this House today, a debate that I’m particularly looking forward to hearing. With regard to the standing committee’s report, I don’t intend to state the position of government and this parliament in answer to that question. That is not my prerogative.
However, I certainly can give some outline of my personal opinion. The Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has done an excellent job and brought forward a very comprehensive report to this parliament. But, notwithstanding the results of its inquiries and the opinions of any commentator in the Northern Territory or any opinion-maker or predictor, there has only been one definitive vote on statehood for the Northern Territory, and that vote was ‘no’.
Therefore, to my mind, we have to be very careful that we don’t lock ourselves into a process on the presumption that Territorians want to progress the statehood issue. It seems to me quite clear that my duty as Chief Minister, and the duty of a responsible government and parliament as a whole, would be to find out first from Territorians whether they wish the issue progressed or not. That lies entirely in the hands of Territorians.
If they wish it, it would be the duty of this parliament and my duty as Chief Minister to vigorously pursue statehood. The pursuit of statehood is one of the reasons the CLP exists. But we have learned from the referendum that that cannot be done by leading Territorians faster than they want to be taken.
If you ask me what my position is on that report and statehood generally, it is that we should pursue the issue of statehood vigorously. But we will not go faster than Territorians allow or wish us to. Most importantly, it seems to me that, before we lock ourselves into a position, or processes such as some of those recommended in the report, we should establish the threshold question first. That is: Do Territorians want statehood or not?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition asks me to pre-empt the debate which will happen in this House today, a debate that I’m particularly looking forward to hearing. With regard to the standing committee’s report, I don’t intend to state the position of government and this parliament in answer to that question. That is not my prerogative.
However, I certainly can give some outline of my personal opinion. The Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has done an excellent job and brought forward a very comprehensive report to this parliament. But, notwithstanding the results of its inquiries and the opinions of any commentator in the Northern Territory or any opinion-maker or predictor, there has only been one definitive vote on statehood for the Northern Territory, and that vote was ‘no’.
Therefore, to my mind, we have to be very careful that we don’t lock ourselves into a process on the presumption that Territorians want to progress the statehood issue. It seems to me quite clear that my duty as Chief Minister, and the duty of a responsible government and parliament as a whole, would be to find out first from Territorians whether they wish the issue progressed or not. That lies entirely in the hands of Territorians.
If they wish it, it would be the duty of this parliament and my duty as Chief Minister to vigorously pursue statehood. The pursuit of statehood is one of the reasons the CLP exists. But we have learned from the referendum that that cannot be done by leading Territorians faster than they want to be taken.
If you ask me what my position is on that report and statehood generally, it is that we should pursue the issue of statehood vigorously. But we will not go faster than Territorians allow or wish us to. Most importantly, it seems to me that, before we lock ourselves into a position, or processes such as some of those recommended in the report, we should establish the threshold question first. That is: Do Territorians want statehood or not?
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016