Mr STIRLING - 2000-10-17
As minister responsible in the Territory for competition reform, your policy on deregulation of the electricity industry ought to be put on the record.
A licence was issued to NT Power in 1997 in order for the Territory to be seen to comply with the Competition Principals’ Agreement, in part to ensure that Territory received the first instalment of national competition payments of $2.2m. The resulting litigation over this licence has cost the Territory around $10m; that is a net loss to the Territory of $7.8m. The National Competition Council has recently refused to recommend the Commonwealth minister certify the Territory’s network access code, further jeopardising the 2000-01 competition payment of $4.5m.
Minister, don’t you think that being responsible for costing taxpayers of the Territory $12.3m is sufficient grounds to resign? And if not, how much more will Territorians have to pay before you do step down?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, what I do think is: Don’t listen to the member for Nhulunbuy. Rule one is don’t listen to him, and rule two is, if you have to listen to him, don’t believe him.
Now, in terms of the diatribe that we have just heard, the legal costs, the situation in relation to the legal issues between NT Power and the Power and Water Authority of the Northern Territory government has been made patently clear in this House many, many times. In terms of the ...
Mr Stirling: No it hasn’t.
Mr REED: ... Northern Territory government ...
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Well it has been, but you don’t understand it. Thank you for admitting it to those listening.
Mr Stirling: You never said why you would not let them operate.
Mr REED: In terms of that particular issue, the government had to respond. There was legal action taken against the government and when legal action is taken by someone against ...
Ms Martin: You issued a licence.
Mr REED: ... another party, in this case the government. I wouldn’t expect you to understand, all you do is sit there burbling away…
Mr Stirling: You issued a licence, let them operate.
Mr REED: ... the Leader of the Opposition is not known for understanding anything.
The fact is that we had to respond and we cannot say to the judge ‘that is enough, judge, we are not coming along here anymore’. When you get into court you have to see the matter through, and whilst the costs of legal action are not welcomed, they happen to be a fact of life in terms of having to respond if legal action is taken against one – as everyone would understand except for the seven dwarfs opposite – with the exception, of course, for the member for Arnhem who cannot be classified as a dwarf.
Let’s set that aside from the overall argument. In relation to national competition policy, can I say that the arrangements are that some proposals have been put forward. There has been a response from the National Competition Council, as I think I indicated in the previous sittings. The Utilities Commissioner is continuing, together with others in government, to talk to the National Competition Council about particular matters which are of interest and concern to the government, and are of interest and concern, I daresay, to Territorians, with the exception of the seven opposite, because they do not have the capacity to understand what the real issues are.
The real issues are, in relation to this matter, getting an arrangement in place where competition can fairly and appropriately take place, and from the point of view of competition, there is another operator in the market as we speak.
There is the potential for others to come along and for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition now to suggest that, again, we will all be ruined, as we were going to be coming up to the end of the last financial year and the introduction of a new tax system, and the mistruths that they put out about those and other matters are again being repeated in relation to this matter.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: You can sit there and shout and try and create unnecessary concern in the community, but the fact is, the process that is set down nationally is being pursued by the Northern Territory government and we are …
Ms Martin: You have not met the standards.
Mr REED: No, you have not met the standards. You have not met the standards of hard work and commitment. You, you are nothing but an extended family of the three blind mice. You all sit over there looking around as to what do we do next? What can we do next? Has someone got a bit of assistance they can afford me to find out which direction we should next proceed in?
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr REED: Don’t let them sit over there and explain to Territorians what they perceive the facts to be because they cannot be trusted. They have no vision, they have no commitment to their job in terms of telling Territorians the truth. They continually misrepresent the facts, as had the Deputy Leader of the Opposition on this particular occasion.
From the point of view of the National Competition policy, we are proceeding as set down under the arrangements between the Commonwealth, the states and the territories to pursue those issues within the guidelines and the parameters, but we can only pursue them. We cannot go in any other direction.
A licence was issued to NT Power in 1997 in order for the Territory to be seen to comply with the Competition Principals’ Agreement, in part to ensure that Territory received the first instalment of national competition payments of $2.2m. The resulting litigation over this licence has cost the Territory around $10m; that is a net loss to the Territory of $7.8m. The National Competition Council has recently refused to recommend the Commonwealth minister certify the Territory’s network access code, further jeopardising the 2000-01 competition payment of $4.5m.
Minister, don’t you think that being responsible for costing taxpayers of the Territory $12.3m is sufficient grounds to resign? And if not, how much more will Territorians have to pay before you do step down?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, what I do think is: Don’t listen to the member for Nhulunbuy. Rule one is don’t listen to him, and rule two is, if you have to listen to him, don’t believe him.
Now, in terms of the diatribe that we have just heard, the legal costs, the situation in relation to the legal issues between NT Power and the Power and Water Authority of the Northern Territory government has been made patently clear in this House many, many times. In terms of the ...
Mr Stirling: No it hasn’t.
Mr REED: ... Northern Territory government ...
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Well it has been, but you don’t understand it. Thank you for admitting it to those listening.
Mr Stirling: You never said why you would not let them operate.
Mr REED: In terms of that particular issue, the government had to respond. There was legal action taken against the government and when legal action is taken by someone against ...
Ms Martin: You issued a licence.
Mr REED: ... another party, in this case the government. I wouldn’t expect you to understand, all you do is sit there burbling away…
Mr Stirling: You issued a licence, let them operate.
Mr REED: ... the Leader of the Opposition is not known for understanding anything.
The fact is that we had to respond and we cannot say to the judge ‘that is enough, judge, we are not coming along here anymore’. When you get into court you have to see the matter through, and whilst the costs of legal action are not welcomed, they happen to be a fact of life in terms of having to respond if legal action is taken against one – as everyone would understand except for the seven dwarfs opposite – with the exception, of course, for the member for Arnhem who cannot be classified as a dwarf.
Let’s set that aside from the overall argument. In relation to national competition policy, can I say that the arrangements are that some proposals have been put forward. There has been a response from the National Competition Council, as I think I indicated in the previous sittings. The Utilities Commissioner is continuing, together with others in government, to talk to the National Competition Council about particular matters which are of interest and concern to the government, and are of interest and concern, I daresay, to Territorians, with the exception of the seven opposite, because they do not have the capacity to understand what the real issues are.
The real issues are, in relation to this matter, getting an arrangement in place where competition can fairly and appropriately take place, and from the point of view of competition, there is another operator in the market as we speak.
There is the potential for others to come along and for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition now to suggest that, again, we will all be ruined, as we were going to be coming up to the end of the last financial year and the introduction of a new tax system, and the mistruths that they put out about those and other matters are again being repeated in relation to this matter.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: You can sit there and shout and try and create unnecessary concern in the community, but the fact is, the process that is set down nationally is being pursued by the Northern Territory government and we are …
Ms Martin: You have not met the standards.
Mr REED: No, you have not met the standards. You have not met the standards of hard work and commitment. You, you are nothing but an extended family of the three blind mice. You all sit over there looking around as to what do we do next? What can we do next? Has someone got a bit of assistance they can afford me to find out which direction we should next proceed in?
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr REED: Don’t let them sit over there and explain to Territorians what they perceive the facts to be because they cannot be trusted. They have no vision, they have no commitment to their job in terms of telling Territorians the truth. They continually misrepresent the facts, as had the Deputy Leader of the Opposition on this particular occasion.
From the point of view of the National Competition policy, we are proceeding as set down under the arrangements between the Commonwealth, the states and the territories to pursue those issues within the guidelines and the parameters, but we can only pursue them. We cannot go in any other direction.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016