Mr POOLE - 2001-05-31
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has made much of waste by executive government in the Northern Territory. The opposition has also been calling for transparency of government. Does the Chief Minister have any examples of this on his records?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have noted on a number of occasions recently that the Leader of the Opposition makes great play on saying that she will, if she becomes Chief Minister, cut waste and she points particularly to cutting executive waste. Yesterday in this parliament, when she gave her budget reply, she put her hand on her heart and said: ‘Trust me. If I am Chief Minister I will be honest and I will run a transparent government.’
Now, I am going to make some serious allegations in this House. I give the Leader of the Opposition the chance to show honesty, to show transparency and explain to Territorians what exactly is happening. The allegations are: she is guilty of rorting Territorians of tens of thousands of dollars, she is guilty of laundering taxpayers’ money to run the ALP in the Northern Territory and she runs it ...
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! If the Chief Minister is going to make these outrageous claims across the Chamber, he has to do so by way of substantive motion. Bring on the censure now, you grub!
Mr SPEAKER: There is some relevant ...
Mr PALMER: Mr Speaker, I would ask the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to withdraw.
Mr STIRLING: I will not withdraw. It is not unparliamentary. He is a grub. He needs to ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Please sit down. The Chief Minister is aware that standing orders demand that if allegations such as this are to be made against the Leader of the Opposition they should be done through substantive motion, not by answer to a question. It is a fairly serious allegation and one that ought to be done via censure.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I should be allowed to state my case before I am required to withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: I would say that you are on shaky ground but I would like to confer with the Clerk for a moment.
The advice that I have received indicates that if the Chief Minister is about to accuse the Leader of the Opposition of any conduct which is in any way improper or illegal, then he should do so by substantive motion. It is not the appropriate time to bring this sort of accusation.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I wish to answer the question so I would ask for some guidance.
Mr SPEAKER: Some guidance in which way, Chief Minister?
Mr BURKE: So I can answer the question.
Mr SPEAKER: Providing no accusation of any unbecoming or improper conduct is made against the Leader of the Opposition in the answer to the question - if it is to go to that, then you must do so by substantive motion.
Mr BURKE: All right, Mr Speaker. I will answer the question this way: first, this morning I wrote a memo to the Secretary of the Chief Minister’s Department expressing my alarm and dismay at the amount of stationery that is being used in the office of the Leader of the Opposition. This is the reason for my concern and I say it in the context of the Leader of the Opposition saying that she will run an open, transparent government and that she will be honest.
Now, this is the first case: when it comes to the Labor Party in the Northern Territory, they have no office. If you try and contact the Labor Party in the Northern Territory to get information, you are referred to the Leader of the Opposition’s parliamentary office. I refer to fliers that are put out by the ALP, notices in newspapers and they refer to the ALP office as her phone number in her parliamentary office. I have made inquiries to try and find out where the ALP office in the Northern Territory is located. There is none. I have nowhere to go. There is none. That is the first thing I would say.
A ream of stationery contains 500 sheets of paper and nowadays that is not cheap. I want the opposition leader ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: The stationery is supplied to ...
Ms Martin: I am doing my job as opposition leader.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: The stationery is supplied ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members on the opposition benches are a little over the top with interjection at present. Interjections should be short and sharp and to the point, not ongoing chatter.
Mr BURKE: The stationery is supplied to all of the ministers’ offices and the Leader of the Opposition’s office at taxpayers’ expense in quantities that I would have thought were reasonable for a minister, or the Leader of the Opposition, or in fact my office, to carry out their functions. In the financial year 1999-2000, the Leader of the Opposition used 190 reams of this paper in her office. Five hundred sheets a ream. That is 95 000 sheets of paper she used in the last financial year. In looking at the supplies of paper to her office on orders that still have two months to go in this financial year, the Leader of the Opposition has used 1524 reams of paper as opposed to 190 reams of paper in the last year. I want members to understand this: that is 762 000 pieces of paper she has used in her office for supposedly legitimate purposes with two months of the financial year to go.
Three quarters of a million sheets of paper with two months to go in the financial year. On the order forms ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: It is amazing. They don’t want Territorians to hear this.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is again too much interjection on the opposition benches. Please calm it down.
Mr BURKE: On the orders that have gone to her office, in some months the opposition leader has used more than 200 000 sheets of paper. That is 10 000 sheets a day. 10 000 sheets a day. Now, as part of the order - these are the orders that have gone to her office in terms of white paper - I ask the question: where was the ALP Waste Watch flier printed? Simple question. Where was it printed?
She has ordered 480 reams - remember this is 500 sheets per ream - 480 reams of sand coloured paper, 129 reams of blue paper, 63 reams of yellow paper and 129 reams of green paper. I refer now to ALP fliers that go into letterboxes all over the Northern Territory: sand, Mr Matthew Bonson; blue, Ms Jane Aagaard. It is a simple answer. All you have to do is deny it.
Mr Stirling: Sit down, Denis! You are making a bigger goose of yourself than normal.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Nhulunbuy has been out once this week. He could be out again before the day is out.
Mr BURKE: I give some simple examples ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Don’t you listen?
Mr BURKE: Same layout, same colour, supposedly produced by the ALP as a political party. I make the allegation this has all been done out of her office. This has all been done at taxpayers’ expense. The taxpayers of the Northern Territory are funding the ALP campaign, almost wholly I would suggest, at the Northern Territory’s expense.
These are originals. Now, she must have a filing system in her office. If she has used that amount of paper, she must be able to give a clear answer to any reasonable question that says: if you have used three-quarters of a million sheets of paper, if you have ordered all of these colours of paper, surely you can point to a reasonable explanation?
I don’t believe she has a reasonable explanation. I believe that what is happening here goes to the very heart of honesty and transparency. It goes to the reason why, by continually saying this is the most deceitful Leader of the Opposition we have ever had to deal with in the Northern Territory, she can stand there and say, ‘Trust me. I am honest.’ I ask her to provide an explanation. I can tell you that my allegations are verified by candidates having been seen going from her office carrying bundles of this stuff. I know that in relation to the printer in her office, Hewlett Packard has a technician on standby to keep the thing going because it is going at such a rate, it far outweighs the specifications for that machine.
Now she has a simple opportunity to show transparency, to show honesty. Go to the media and say to the media: ‘To use three-quarters of a million sheets of paper out of my office is a reasonable use. It is legitimate. I am the Leader of the Opposition and it is a legitimate use of taxpayers’ money,’ and explain to them how and why you are using that paper. You might like to ask the candidates where they got these brochures printed. Where was the ALP office? Who paid for it? Was it or was it not done in the Leader of the Opposition’s office? There is your opportunity: honesty and transparency in government.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have noted on a number of occasions recently that the Leader of the Opposition makes great play on saying that she will, if she becomes Chief Minister, cut waste and she points particularly to cutting executive waste. Yesterday in this parliament, when she gave her budget reply, she put her hand on her heart and said: ‘Trust me. If I am Chief Minister I will be honest and I will run a transparent government.’
Now, I am going to make some serious allegations in this House. I give the Leader of the Opposition the chance to show honesty, to show transparency and explain to Territorians what exactly is happening. The allegations are: she is guilty of rorting Territorians of tens of thousands of dollars, she is guilty of laundering taxpayers’ money to run the ALP in the Northern Territory and she runs it ...
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! If the Chief Minister is going to make these outrageous claims across the Chamber, he has to do so by way of substantive motion. Bring on the censure now, you grub!
Mr SPEAKER: There is some relevant ...
Mr PALMER: Mr Speaker, I would ask the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to withdraw.
Mr STIRLING: I will not withdraw. It is not unparliamentary. He is a grub. He needs to ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Please sit down. The Chief Minister is aware that standing orders demand that if allegations such as this are to be made against the Leader of the Opposition they should be done through substantive motion, not by answer to a question. It is a fairly serious allegation and one that ought to be done via censure.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I should be allowed to state my case before I am required to withdraw.
Mr SPEAKER: I would say that you are on shaky ground but I would like to confer with the Clerk for a moment.
The advice that I have received indicates that if the Chief Minister is about to accuse the Leader of the Opposition of any conduct which is in any way improper or illegal, then he should do so by substantive motion. It is not the appropriate time to bring this sort of accusation.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I wish to answer the question so I would ask for some guidance.
Mr SPEAKER: Some guidance in which way, Chief Minister?
Mr BURKE: So I can answer the question.
Mr SPEAKER: Providing no accusation of any unbecoming or improper conduct is made against the Leader of the Opposition in the answer to the question - if it is to go to that, then you must do so by substantive motion.
Mr BURKE: All right, Mr Speaker. I will answer the question this way: first, this morning I wrote a memo to the Secretary of the Chief Minister’s Department expressing my alarm and dismay at the amount of stationery that is being used in the office of the Leader of the Opposition. This is the reason for my concern and I say it in the context of the Leader of the Opposition saying that she will run an open, transparent government and that she will be honest.
Now, this is the first case: when it comes to the Labor Party in the Northern Territory, they have no office. If you try and contact the Labor Party in the Northern Territory to get information, you are referred to the Leader of the Opposition’s parliamentary office. I refer to fliers that are put out by the ALP, notices in newspapers and they refer to the ALP office as her phone number in her parliamentary office. I have made inquiries to try and find out where the ALP office in the Northern Territory is located. There is none. I have nowhere to go. There is none. That is the first thing I would say.
A ream of stationery contains 500 sheets of paper and nowadays that is not cheap. I want the opposition leader ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: The stationery is supplied to ...
Ms Martin: I am doing my job as opposition leader.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: The stationery is supplied ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members on the opposition benches are a little over the top with interjection at present. Interjections should be short and sharp and to the point, not ongoing chatter.
Mr BURKE: The stationery is supplied to all of the ministers’ offices and the Leader of the Opposition’s office at taxpayers’ expense in quantities that I would have thought were reasonable for a minister, or the Leader of the Opposition, or in fact my office, to carry out their functions. In the financial year 1999-2000, the Leader of the Opposition used 190 reams of this paper in her office. Five hundred sheets a ream. That is 95 000 sheets of paper she used in the last financial year. In looking at the supplies of paper to her office on orders that still have two months to go in this financial year, the Leader of the Opposition has used 1524 reams of paper as opposed to 190 reams of paper in the last year. I want members to understand this: that is 762 000 pieces of paper she has used in her office for supposedly legitimate purposes with two months of the financial year to go.
Three quarters of a million sheets of paper with two months to go in the financial year. On the order forms ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: It is amazing. They don’t want Territorians to hear this.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is again too much interjection on the opposition benches. Please calm it down.
Mr BURKE: On the orders that have gone to her office, in some months the opposition leader has used more than 200 000 sheets of paper. That is 10 000 sheets a day. 10 000 sheets a day. Now, as part of the order - these are the orders that have gone to her office in terms of white paper - I ask the question: where was the ALP Waste Watch flier printed? Simple question. Where was it printed?
She has ordered 480 reams - remember this is 500 sheets per ream - 480 reams of sand coloured paper, 129 reams of blue paper, 63 reams of yellow paper and 129 reams of green paper. I refer now to ALP fliers that go into letterboxes all over the Northern Territory: sand, Mr Matthew Bonson; blue, Ms Jane Aagaard. It is a simple answer. All you have to do is deny it.
Mr Stirling: Sit down, Denis! You are making a bigger goose of yourself than normal.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member for Nhulunbuy has been out once this week. He could be out again before the day is out.
Mr BURKE: I give some simple examples ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Don’t you listen?
Mr BURKE: Same layout, same colour, supposedly produced by the ALP as a political party. I make the allegation this has all been done out of her office. This has all been done at taxpayers’ expense. The taxpayers of the Northern Territory are funding the ALP campaign, almost wholly I would suggest, at the Northern Territory’s expense.
These are originals. Now, she must have a filing system in her office. If she has used that amount of paper, she must be able to give a clear answer to any reasonable question that says: if you have used three-quarters of a million sheets of paper, if you have ordered all of these colours of paper, surely you can point to a reasonable explanation?
I don’t believe she has a reasonable explanation. I believe that what is happening here goes to the very heart of honesty and transparency. It goes to the reason why, by continually saying this is the most deceitful Leader of the Opposition we have ever had to deal with in the Northern Territory, she can stand there and say, ‘Trust me. I am honest.’ I ask her to provide an explanation. I can tell you that my allegations are verified by candidates having been seen going from her office carrying bundles of this stuff. I know that in relation to the printer in her office, Hewlett Packard has a technician on standby to keep the thing going because it is going at such a rate, it far outweighs the specifications for that machine.
Now she has a simple opportunity to show transparency, to show honesty. Go to the media and say to the media: ‘To use three-quarters of a million sheets of paper out of my office is a reasonable use. It is legitimate. I am the Leader of the Opposition and it is a legitimate use of taxpayers’ money,’ and explain to them how and why you are using that paper. You might like to ask the candidates where they got these brochures printed. Where was the ALP office? Who paid for it? Was it or was it not done in the Leader of the Opposition’s office? There is your opportunity: honesty and transparency in government.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016