Mr ELFERINK - 1999-08-12
The Opposition Leader has a habit of being caught out changing her position on particular issues. Yesterday it was power. In February she told the NT News she was not opposed to alternative providers of electricity in the Northern Territory. Yesterday she said to the NT News she was against competition in the power industry. Only hours later the opposition leader told the media she now supported competition in the power industry. I have no idea what she was saying yesterday afternoon on the radio. Chief Minister, does anybody know what the opposition’s position is on power?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I’ve said over the last couple of days in this House that the Leader of the Opposition has no substance and the Leader of the Opposition has no credibility on very important issues for the Northern Territory.
I demonstrated that with regard to native title. The Leader of the Opposition and members opposite voted unanimously in this House in support of our native title legislation, yet hours after Senator Bolkus in Canberra moved the disallowance motion, the Leader of the Opposition supported him in that disallowance motion. I have demonstrated in this House the lies that have been peddled by the Leader of the Opposition in an open letter to Aboriginals - a whole host of lies accusing the CLP of policies and positions which are totally untrue.
The issue of the Leader of the Opposition’s position on power is important to Territorians because they have had a central line running that they will deliver cheaper power in the Northern Territory. It seems to me that the Leader of the Opposition is too used to having a producer’s earpiece in her ear, and she’s changing producers faster than Collingwood is changing football coaches at the moment. I can’t find any sort of logic in her position with regard to NT Power or how privatisation could be introduced into our power system. Today, she was quoted in the paper as saying:
When it comes to the distribution of power in the Territory, Labor says very firmly, and has always said, that there is only one option. And that is a public monopoly option.
I ask the Leader of the Opposition this question: If the only option for the distribution of power in the Northern Territory is a public monopoly option, who owns the Darwin-Katherine power line? I wonder if the Leader of the Opposition could answer that question. It is not owned by the government. In talking about the distribution of power in the Northern Territory and saying there is only one option, a public monopoly option, the Leader of the Opposition is 10 years behind the times. Power distribution in the Northern Territory is not a public monopoly system. The power line from Darwin to Katherine is owned by a private company. The gas pipeline from Alice Springs to Darwin is not owned by a public monopoly.
Let us understand how the power distribution system in the Northern Territory works, firstly. Most importantly, it seems to me Labor needs to establish a policy position on this. If we were to establish the new township of …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, member for Barkly!
Mr BURKE: If we were to establish the new township of Weddell, is it therefore the Labor position and policy that the power distribution to that township could only be conducted by a public monopoly? If we were to put gas from Darwin to Gove, is it the Labor Party position that the supply could be provided only by a public monopoly? That’s a pretty simple question.
We are talking about the introduction of competition in the Northern Territory. The Labor Party under this leader talks about lowering electricity prices. If you are going out to Territorians saying you will lower electricity prices, tell us how you would do it. You have now established a policy position that the only distribution system you would accept in the Northern Territory would be a public monopoly, which is 10 years behind the time because our distribution system is already not a public monopoly and cannot become a public monopoly unless the Labor Party itself puts in policies to prevent private competition coming into the electricity grid.
The other interesting thing is the Labor Party’s position with regard to NT Power. Today in the NT News the Labor leader was quoted as saying:
If we have a power supply like NT Power, then withproper regulation and assessment there is no reason why we wouldn’t support them coming into provide power to the grid.
That was her position today in the paper - at odds with the position that she stated yesterday, which was that the Labor ALP policy was against competition in the power industry.
Mr TOYNE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He has been speaking for 10 minutes now. As much as I like his lectures, I think it would be really good …
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order. With less interjection it might take a little less time.
Mr BURKE: She does not only change her position in two days. In an interview with Col Newman on the Morning show on 15 July 1999, she said this about NT Power:
Paul Everingham would like to lick the cream off the market and the rest of us will pay more for our domestic power.
Reporter: That clears that one up, doesn’t it?
Martin: Absolutely! [No equivocation there.] We are a unique market and it’s not big enough to have a number of different suppliers. I’m not going to back NT Power. No, I’m not.
Yet today in the paper she is quoted as changing her position again, saying that NT Power …
Mrs Hickey: What are you going to do to make power cheaper?
Mr BURKE: I think there’s a very simple way to explain the back-flip of the Labor Party with regard to their position on NT Power. The question is simply this: How much did Everingham donate to the Labor Party?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, member for Nhulunbuy!
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I’ve said over the last couple of days in this House that the Leader of the Opposition has no substance and the Leader of the Opposition has no credibility on very important issues for the Northern Territory.
I demonstrated that with regard to native title. The Leader of the Opposition and members opposite voted unanimously in this House in support of our native title legislation, yet hours after Senator Bolkus in Canberra moved the disallowance motion, the Leader of the Opposition supported him in that disallowance motion. I have demonstrated in this House the lies that have been peddled by the Leader of the Opposition in an open letter to Aboriginals - a whole host of lies accusing the CLP of policies and positions which are totally untrue.
The issue of the Leader of the Opposition’s position on power is important to Territorians because they have had a central line running that they will deliver cheaper power in the Northern Territory. It seems to me that the Leader of the Opposition is too used to having a producer’s earpiece in her ear, and she’s changing producers faster than Collingwood is changing football coaches at the moment. I can’t find any sort of logic in her position with regard to NT Power or how privatisation could be introduced into our power system. Today, she was quoted in the paper as saying:
When it comes to the distribution of power in the Territory, Labor says very firmly, and has always said, that there is only one option. And that is a public monopoly option.
I ask the Leader of the Opposition this question: If the only option for the distribution of power in the Northern Territory is a public monopoly option, who owns the Darwin-Katherine power line? I wonder if the Leader of the Opposition could answer that question. It is not owned by the government. In talking about the distribution of power in the Northern Territory and saying there is only one option, a public monopoly option, the Leader of the Opposition is 10 years behind the times. Power distribution in the Northern Territory is not a public monopoly system. The power line from Darwin to Katherine is owned by a private company. The gas pipeline from Alice Springs to Darwin is not owned by a public monopoly.
Let us understand how the power distribution system in the Northern Territory works, firstly. Most importantly, it seems to me Labor needs to establish a policy position on this. If we were to establish the new township of …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, member for Barkly!
Mr BURKE: If we were to establish the new township of Weddell, is it therefore the Labor position and policy that the power distribution to that township could only be conducted by a public monopoly? If we were to put gas from Darwin to Gove, is it the Labor Party position that the supply could be provided only by a public monopoly? That’s a pretty simple question.
We are talking about the introduction of competition in the Northern Territory. The Labor Party under this leader talks about lowering electricity prices. If you are going out to Territorians saying you will lower electricity prices, tell us how you would do it. You have now established a policy position that the only distribution system you would accept in the Northern Territory would be a public monopoly, which is 10 years behind the time because our distribution system is already not a public monopoly and cannot become a public monopoly unless the Labor Party itself puts in policies to prevent private competition coming into the electricity grid.
The other interesting thing is the Labor Party’s position with regard to NT Power. Today in the NT News the Labor leader was quoted as saying:
If we have a power supply like NT Power, then withproper regulation and assessment there is no reason why we wouldn’t support them coming into provide power to the grid.
That was her position today in the paper - at odds with the position that she stated yesterday, which was that the Labor ALP policy was against competition in the power industry.
Mr TOYNE: A point of order, Mr Speaker! He has been speaking for 10 minutes now. As much as I like his lectures, I think it would be really good …
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order. With less interjection it might take a little less time.
Mr BURKE: She does not only change her position in two days. In an interview with Col Newman on the Morning show on 15 July 1999, she said this about NT Power:
Paul Everingham would like to lick the cream off the market and the rest of us will pay more for our domestic power.
Reporter: That clears that one up, doesn’t it?
Martin: Absolutely! [No equivocation there.] We are a unique market and it’s not big enough to have a number of different suppliers. I’m not going to back NT Power. No, I’m not.
Yet today in the paper she is quoted as changing her position again, saying that NT Power …
Mrs Hickey: What are you going to do to make power cheaper?
Mr BURKE: I think there’s a very simple way to explain the back-flip of the Labor Party with regard to their position on NT Power. The question is simply this: How much did Everingham donate to the Labor Party?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, member for Nhulunbuy!
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016