Mr STIRLING - 2001-03-01
Yesterday’s Katherine Times trumpeted the minister’s claims that the floods in the Victoria River region, while a tragedy for those directly concerned, would be a boon for local business. A local Katherine business, who supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to Kalkarindji, has had to throw out its own food supplies intended for the community, while purchases for the evacuated residents are made from Woolworths at higher prices. Neither fresh fruit, vegetables, bread or milk are purchased from local supplies. The meat is coming from Alice Springs, despite four butchers in Katherine, yet these very same businesses are still struggling to recover from their own experiences with the Katherine floods and desperately need all the business they can get.
Doesn’t this prove, minister, your hypocrisy in highlighting the Country Liberal Party is happy to deal with the big end of town but doesn’t care about locally owned businesses even when they are located within your own electorate?
ANSWER
Well, Mr Speaker, it’s the sixth day of the sittings, and hundreds of people have been moved from their homes because they have been flooded. They have been severely disadvantaged, they have lost their personal possessions. Many of those people have only what they stand up in, their clothing or clothing that has been given to them by Red Cross. They have been housed in Katherine courtesy of the RAAF. They have been fed in Katherine courtesy of the RAAF Base Tindal personnel, who have been working hard. They have been looked after by Police, Fire and Emergency Services personnel, Territory Health Services personnel, and many other NT government agencies and departments, and Commonwealth agencies. And, after six days, we get a negative question. They are not concerned about the wellbeing of the flood victims.
Last Monday week, I had to search around looking for the member for Barkly to give her a briefing on the circumstances into Borroloola.
Mrs HICKEY: I requested it half a dozen times from your department. A point of order, Mr Speaker! The minister is misrepresenting me, and he knows it.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, order! I am not in a position to rule that there is a point of order in that regard. If you believe that you have been maligned in any way you can come to me and talk about making a personal explanation.
A member interjecting.
Mr PALMER: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Fat Jack over there interjected. Without substantive motion he accused a member of telling lies.
Mr AH KIT: Withdrawn.
Mr SPEAKER: I did not hear it but the Leader of Government Business cannot refer to the member for Arnhem by any other means than his title - member for Arnhem.
Mr PALMER: The member for Arnhem accused the honourable Treasurer of lying, and I have video evidence to prove it.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and so to continue. At lunch on that Monday it was the Bombing of Darwin ceremony. After the lunch I approached the Leader of the Opposition and asked her if Maggie was around so I could give her a briefing on the floods, and Clare looks up me and she says ‘floods?’, as if to say: ‘What’s going on?’
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the Leader of the Opposition please sit down; there is no point of order.
Mr REED: So, ‘Where’s Maggie, I want to give her a briefing on the floods?’. ‘I have no idea’, she said. She’s only the boss! Don’t you talk about floods? Last year, when your people were being flooded at Beswick, you had been to a social function in Alice Springs.
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I appreciate the Treasurer is stung by this because it is a rebuke from businesses in his own electorate, but that’s the substance of the question, and we want an answer.
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order, and I am getting a little tired of the frivolous points of order that are being called.
Mr REED: In addition to that, the member for Stuart, the Leader of the Opposition, and the federal member, our representative from Canberra, went to Katherine last Friday, and they turned a disaster into an even greater disaster. They caused great unrest with the comments that the honourable federal member made to the gathered throng. They made completely incorrect assertions in relation to police carrying firearms, and made assertions in addition to that that if a natural disaster was declared, people would get financial assistance and support in the full knowledge, of course, that he knew that NDRA assistance is available to the Territory government under a state of an emergency. But he only went there to muckrake.
He and the member for Stuart caused further consternation by appointing a member of the Katherine West Health Board to be the coordinator of the assistance, when it has absolutely nothing to do with them in terms of the organisation. Further to that, he travels out to Kalkarindji on Saturday with members of the Katherine Health Board, only to upset traditional owners, because they believed they should have been taken out there by him as they are the ones who able to speak for it. I wonder if the member for Barkly has been to Borroloola?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Did you go to Borroloola last weekend to see your constituents?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the minister please resume his seat. I am prepared to sit here for the rest of Question Time, if you wish, in absolute silence and not recognise anyone. Unless I get some reasonable quiet in here, I am not going to go on with Question Time.
Mr REED: And so we get to today where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition stands up, not to thank all of those people who have worked so hard over the last two weeks, so hard, whether they be police, RAAF personnel from Tindal, Red Cross volunteers or community volunteers, or whatever role they have been playing to assist people, but he gets up to be negative and tries to score a political point out of a disaster in which so many hundreds of people have suffered.
Let’s get to the point of this question ...
Ms Martin: Oh!
Mr REED: It’s no good going ‘Oh’, Clara. Listen to the answer.
And so, the point as I understand it is this: that the particular business concerned supplies goods, perishables in the main, to other communities, but in this case to Kalkarindji. And along came a flood. Now, as the people weren’t in their homes, as they had been evacuated and were being cared for by hardworking Territorians assisting people in need, there was no further need or ability, indeed, for those people to receive their orders, to be able to ...
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: No, just listen. To be able to receive their orders or to purchase goods from the store. I guess, in part, the supply of items that the honourable member referred to was going to the Kalkarindji store.
So, as a consequence of that, as the store closed down because of the flood, a totally unforeseen circumstance, there was then no business for that store at Kalkarindji - nothing to do with the Northern Territory government - to do in terms of trade or, indeed, ability to receive the goods. Unfortunately, that particular business was caught by those circumstances. Other people were caught because their homes got flooded. They lost all of their possessions - totally unforeseen.
Then the honourable member has the temerity to accuse me or the government of not fulfilling ...
Ms Martin: You say you are looking after local businesses.
Mr REED: Just listen, Clara. You’re a noisy little girl, but you should listen.
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The minister must refer to the member by her correct name.
Mr REED: The honourable member is very noisy but she really should listen if she wants the answers.
In terms of feeding people - and bearing in mind that there were, in the end, some 730 evacuees taken into Katherine to the showgrounds, which is unacknowledged by the member for Nhulunbuy - RAAF Base Tindal came to the fore before a declaration of emergency with assistance and they set up a field kitchen, which is a most impressive operation. Some hardworking people from RAAF Base Tindal provided an enormous range of quality food to all of those evacuees.
The reason the Northern Territory government did not buy the food from the person the member for Nhulunbuy suggests we should have bought it from was because the Northern Territory government was not buying the food. The food was supplied by RAAF Base Tindal.
Mr Stirling: Well, why did you say it would be a boon for local business? You mislead Territorians.
Mr REED: Because an idiot like you would take the bait, try and make it a negative, try and make a political point out of someone’s unfortunate circumstances in which they found themselves.
I congratulate RAAF Base Tindal, because they came forward and using, I guess, their existing supply contracts - much of which, Clara, I can tell you probably comes from local suppliers.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Again the minister must refer to the member by her correct title.
Mr REED: Members opposite should acknowledge the fact and thank RAAF Base Tindal personnel for quickly establishing the kitchen, and for using their existing contracts of supply. I daresay many of those items are sourced out of Katherine, or perhaps Alice Springs or Darwin. Have you not got a concern that people in Darwin might pick up a little bit of this business? What is your problem with other Territorians getting a part of the business? So your criticism is directed towards RAAF Base Tindal. You are the most disgusting example of a politician who would try and make a political point out of someone’s circumstances whereby they were flooded, and failing to recognise the efforts of the defence forces and other government agencies.
Doesn’t this prove, minister, your hypocrisy in highlighting the Country Liberal Party is happy to deal with the big end of town but doesn’t care about locally owned businesses even when they are located within your own electorate?
ANSWER
Well, Mr Speaker, it’s the sixth day of the sittings, and hundreds of people have been moved from their homes because they have been flooded. They have been severely disadvantaged, they have lost their personal possessions. Many of those people have only what they stand up in, their clothing or clothing that has been given to them by Red Cross. They have been housed in Katherine courtesy of the RAAF. They have been fed in Katherine courtesy of the RAAF Base Tindal personnel, who have been working hard. They have been looked after by Police, Fire and Emergency Services personnel, Territory Health Services personnel, and many other NT government agencies and departments, and Commonwealth agencies. And, after six days, we get a negative question. They are not concerned about the wellbeing of the flood victims.
Last Monday week, I had to search around looking for the member for Barkly to give her a briefing on the circumstances into Borroloola.
Mrs HICKEY: I requested it half a dozen times from your department. A point of order, Mr Speaker! The minister is misrepresenting me, and he knows it.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, order! I am not in a position to rule that there is a point of order in that regard. If you believe that you have been maligned in any way you can come to me and talk about making a personal explanation.
A member interjecting.
Mr PALMER: A point of order, Mr Speaker! Fat Jack over there interjected. Without substantive motion he accused a member of telling lies.
Mr AH KIT: Withdrawn.
Mr SPEAKER: I did not hear it but the Leader of Government Business cannot refer to the member for Arnhem by any other means than his title - member for Arnhem.
Mr PALMER: The member for Arnhem accused the honourable Treasurer of lying, and I have video evidence to prove it.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Thank you, Mr Speaker, and so to continue. At lunch on that Monday it was the Bombing of Darwin ceremony. After the lunch I approached the Leader of the Opposition and asked her if Maggie was around so I could give her a briefing on the floods, and Clare looks up me and she says ‘floods?’, as if to say: ‘What’s going on?’
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the Leader of the Opposition please sit down; there is no point of order.
Mr REED: So, ‘Where’s Maggie, I want to give her a briefing on the floods?’. ‘I have no idea’, she said. She’s only the boss! Don’t you talk about floods? Last year, when your people were being flooded at Beswick, you had been to a social function in Alice Springs.
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! I appreciate the Treasurer is stung by this because it is a rebuke from businesses in his own electorate, but that’s the substance of the question, and we want an answer.
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order, and I am getting a little tired of the frivolous points of order that are being called.
Mr REED: In addition to that, the member for Stuart, the Leader of the Opposition, and the federal member, our representative from Canberra, went to Katherine last Friday, and they turned a disaster into an even greater disaster. They caused great unrest with the comments that the honourable federal member made to the gathered throng. They made completely incorrect assertions in relation to police carrying firearms, and made assertions in addition to that that if a natural disaster was declared, people would get financial assistance and support in the full knowledge, of course, that he knew that NDRA assistance is available to the Territory government under a state of an emergency. But he only went there to muckrake.
He and the member for Stuart caused further consternation by appointing a member of the Katherine West Health Board to be the coordinator of the assistance, when it has absolutely nothing to do with them in terms of the organisation. Further to that, he travels out to Kalkarindji on Saturday with members of the Katherine Health Board, only to upset traditional owners, because they believed they should have been taken out there by him as they are the ones who able to speak for it. I wonder if the member for Barkly has been to Borroloola?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Did you go to Borroloola last weekend to see your constituents?
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the minister please resume his seat. I am prepared to sit here for the rest of Question Time, if you wish, in absolute silence and not recognise anyone. Unless I get some reasonable quiet in here, I am not going to go on with Question Time.
Mr REED: And so we get to today where the Deputy Leader of the Opposition stands up, not to thank all of those people who have worked so hard over the last two weeks, so hard, whether they be police, RAAF personnel from Tindal, Red Cross volunteers or community volunteers, or whatever role they have been playing to assist people, but he gets up to be negative and tries to score a political point out of a disaster in which so many hundreds of people have suffered.
Let’s get to the point of this question ...
Ms Martin: Oh!
Mr REED: It’s no good going ‘Oh’, Clara. Listen to the answer.
And so, the point as I understand it is this: that the particular business concerned supplies goods, perishables in the main, to other communities, but in this case to Kalkarindji. And along came a flood. Now, as the people weren’t in their homes, as they had been evacuated and were being cared for by hardworking Territorians assisting people in need, there was no further need or ability, indeed, for those people to receive their orders, to be able to ...
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: No, just listen. To be able to receive their orders or to purchase goods from the store. I guess, in part, the supply of items that the honourable member referred to was going to the Kalkarindji store.
So, as a consequence of that, as the store closed down because of the flood, a totally unforeseen circumstance, there was then no business for that store at Kalkarindji - nothing to do with the Northern Territory government - to do in terms of trade or, indeed, ability to receive the goods. Unfortunately, that particular business was caught by those circumstances. Other people were caught because their homes got flooded. They lost all of their possessions - totally unforeseen.
Then the honourable member has the temerity to accuse me or the government of not fulfilling ...
Ms Martin: You say you are looking after local businesses.
Mr REED: Just listen, Clara. You’re a noisy little girl, but you should listen.
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The minister must refer to the member by her correct name.
Mr REED: The honourable member is very noisy but she really should listen if she wants the answers.
In terms of feeding people - and bearing in mind that there were, in the end, some 730 evacuees taken into Katherine to the showgrounds, which is unacknowledged by the member for Nhulunbuy - RAAF Base Tindal came to the fore before a declaration of emergency with assistance and they set up a field kitchen, which is a most impressive operation. Some hardworking people from RAAF Base Tindal provided an enormous range of quality food to all of those evacuees.
The reason the Northern Territory government did not buy the food from the person the member for Nhulunbuy suggests we should have bought it from was because the Northern Territory government was not buying the food. The food was supplied by RAAF Base Tindal.
Mr Stirling: Well, why did you say it would be a boon for local business? You mislead Territorians.
Mr REED: Because an idiot like you would take the bait, try and make it a negative, try and make a political point out of someone’s unfortunate circumstances in which they found themselves.
I congratulate RAAF Base Tindal, because they came forward and using, I guess, their existing supply contracts - much of which, Clara, I can tell you probably comes from local suppliers.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Again the minister must refer to the member by her correct title.
Mr REED: Members opposite should acknowledge the fact and thank RAAF Base Tindal personnel for quickly establishing the kitchen, and for using their existing contracts of supply. I daresay many of those items are sourced out of Katherine, or perhaps Alice Springs or Darwin. Have you not got a concern that people in Darwin might pick up a little bit of this business? What is your problem with other Territorians getting a part of the business? So your criticism is directed towards RAAF Base Tindal. You are the most disgusting example of a politician who would try and make a political point out of someone’s circumstances whereby they were flooded, and failing to recognise the efforts of the defence forces and other government agencies.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016