Mr ELFERINK - 1999-02-24
The Leader of the Opposition seems to think that the government ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: The Leader of the Opposition seems to think that the government was foolish for suggesting that the Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party failed to make full and frank disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission. Can the Chief Minister inform the House whether or not he is indeed feeling foolish?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I made the comment yesterday that the opposition is either mischievous or incompetent. The information that I have received today bears out the fact that they are both. The reality is that they are mischievous in that a Territorian cannot go to the returns of a political party in the Northern Territory and find in those returns donations, in fact or in kind, that are presented to that particular political party.
A Territorian would have to go to the federal returns, the returns of the federal Labor Party and even then they would see one item which says ‘MPS advertising as a beneficiary of funding from the federal ALP, $56 000’. That would enlighten a Territorian not one dot. So they are, I believe, quite clearly mischievous in that they are not ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: ... providing to Territorians the information ...
Mr Stirling: That the government paid for.
Mr BURKE: If the member for Nhulunbuy would button up for one second, I will continue. They are not providing to Territorians the sort of information a Territorian would expect to find. These are the highest promoters of freedom of information in the Northern Territory. I might add also that it tends, in my opinion, to make a bit of a joke as to what exactly should be in these particular returns. They should be for the benefit of any lay person who picks up an electoral return and sees where the money comes from for a particular party.
The other factor is that they are incompetent. I think that is also borne out because they are owned body and soul by the federal ALP. They are mistrusted by the federal ALP to the extent that the federal ALP has to not only design their policies ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: …but also ...
Mr Stirling: We pay for our polling.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: They’ve probably done an assessment on their efforts in the chook raffle and decided that the last thing they are going to do is give them money, so it has said: ‘What we will do is, we will pay our money’ ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much chatter across the Chamber but, particularly, on the opposition benches at the present time. I don’t mind, as I have said many times before, short sharp interjection but the continuous monologue of one or two members of the opposition is just too much. The honourable the Chief Minister should be heard in reasonable silence.
Mr BURKE: I am sure that, the federal ALP, when they considered where and how the money should go made a very quick assessment and said: ‘The last thing we’re going do is give this lot dollars. So, we’ll send the money directly from Canberra to the advertising agency in Perth and this mob won’t even be able to touch any of it. We’ll get our effort done’. Territorians haven’t found out which way the money moved. This mob are mischievous in that they haven’t revealed it in their returns. They’re incompetent in the way ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: …the money has been channelled from the federal ALP and, frankly, if you want to get donations from businesses in the Northern Territory, I suggest you spend your money in the Northern Territory and they might donate a bit more to you.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Frankly, I don’t feel a fool in the slightest. This mob are owned body and soul by the federal ALP, and I said they were mischievous or incompetent. They have proven to be both.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: The Leader of the Opposition seems to think that the government was foolish for suggesting that the Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party failed to make full and frank disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission. Can the Chief Minister inform the House whether or not he is indeed feeling foolish?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I made the comment yesterday that the opposition is either mischievous or incompetent. The information that I have received today bears out the fact that they are both. The reality is that they are mischievous in that a Territorian cannot go to the returns of a political party in the Northern Territory and find in those returns donations, in fact or in kind, that are presented to that particular political party.
A Territorian would have to go to the federal returns, the returns of the federal Labor Party and even then they would see one item which says ‘MPS advertising as a beneficiary of funding from the federal ALP, $56 000’. That would enlighten a Territorian not one dot. So they are, I believe, quite clearly mischievous in that they are not ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: ... providing to Territorians the information ...
Mr Stirling: That the government paid for.
Mr BURKE: If the member for Nhulunbuy would button up for one second, I will continue. They are not providing to Territorians the sort of information a Territorian would expect to find. These are the highest promoters of freedom of information in the Northern Territory. I might add also that it tends, in my opinion, to make a bit of a joke as to what exactly should be in these particular returns. They should be for the benefit of any lay person who picks up an electoral return and sees where the money comes from for a particular party.
The other factor is that they are incompetent. I think that is also borne out because they are owned body and soul by the federal ALP. They are mistrusted by the federal ALP to the extent that the federal ALP has to not only design their policies ...
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: …but also ...
Mr Stirling: We pay for our polling.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: They’ve probably done an assessment on their efforts in the chook raffle and decided that the last thing they are going to do is give them money, so it has said: ‘What we will do is, we will pay our money’ ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much chatter across the Chamber but, particularly, on the opposition benches at the present time. I don’t mind, as I have said many times before, short sharp interjection but the continuous monologue of one or two members of the opposition is just too much. The honourable the Chief Minister should be heard in reasonable silence.
Mr BURKE: I am sure that, the federal ALP, when they considered where and how the money should go made a very quick assessment and said: ‘The last thing we’re going do is give this lot dollars. So, we’ll send the money directly from Canberra to the advertising agency in Perth and this mob won’t even be able to touch any of it. We’ll get our effort done’. Territorians haven’t found out which way the money moved. This mob are mischievous in that they haven’t revealed it in their returns. They’re incompetent in the way ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: …the money has been channelled from the federal ALP and, frankly, if you want to get donations from businesses in the Northern Territory, I suggest you spend your money in the Northern Territory and they might donate a bit more to you.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Frankly, I don’t feel a fool in the slightest. This mob are owned body and soul by the federal ALP, and I said they were mischievous or incompetent. They have proven to be both.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016