Ms MARTIN - 2001-02-22
The Auditor-General in his report revealed what you concealed during the Appropriation debates last year in relation to taxpayer-funded polling that CLP mate, Mark Textor, was the government pollster. Why was an exemption provided from the tendering process for $300 000 worth of taxpayer-funded polling, so that the Liberal Party pollster, Mark Textor, could simply be given the contract?
To quote the Chief Minister on radio this morning: ‘The purpose of the polling was to help the government look at its strengths and weaknesses’. Chief Minister, will you now admit you have been caught out continuing the same corrupt practices as your predecessor, as so clearly revealed by former government adviser, Andrew Coward?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it is worth Territorians being very sure that once again, and I know most of them would not read the Ombudsman’s report and depend on media comment for their information, but it is important to emphasise that at no point in the Ombudsman’s report does he make any allegation against government in terms of using taxpayers’ money for political purposes.
Ms Martin: We are talking about the Auditor-General’s report.
Mr BURKE: Sorry - the Auditor-General make any comment against the processes that hard-working public servants in the Department of Chief Minister made in making their decisions to engage Wirthlin, the organisation that has conducted part of our market research, as the tenderer to government.
The information I have been given is that, as we know, the research was commissioned by senior marketing staff in the Government Communications Office. This research was based on their own extensive experience in commissioning market research, and they came to the opinion that no other company had the experience in social research at both the Territory and national ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: That they were the company that had the experience in social research at both the Territory and national level to conduct the research required and to deliver the strategic recommendations needed to build a marketing strategy. This is what was ...
Ms Martin: A proven liar.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: It is important for Territorians to know this is what was provided to the Auditor-General and accepted by the Auditor-General. Firstly, the first hand knowledge of the work of Wirthlin ...
Mr Stirling: He tells lies.
A member: He scares the hell out of you lot, doesn’t he?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I intend to sit down if the opposition won’t be quiet, because there is no way that Territorians can hear my answer.
The Auditor-General accepted the public servants decision to engage Wirthlin based on their first hand knowledge of the work of Wirthlin conducting research in the Northern Territory. Whether the opposition like a company that Mark Textor is the Australian manager of or not – it scares the hell out of them in some respects – but the simple fact is this, that particular company including Mark Textor have recently been engaged in three states in the United States as part of the Bush campaign. They have worked under the Keating government. They are part of an international company. They enjoy enormous respect particularly in the Northern Territory where their experience in the Northern Territory is second to none.
The principal, Mark Textor, is a Territory boy. We are particularly proud that he has reached the levels he has in market research. But in any case ...
Mr Stirling: He’s a filthy lying grub, and you employ him.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: I want to make it very clear to Territorians ...
Mr Stirling: This is the bloke you’re proud of…
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Nhulunbuy that you are on a warning.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I want to make it very clear to Territorians that the kind of allegations and comment coming from the Leader of the Opposition and her deputy is not directed at me. It is directed at Paul Tyrrell who is the Secretary of the Department of Chief Minister.
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: They laugh. Now, if they laugh, they therefore are suggesting that Paul Tyrrell and his deputy, Chris Bigg, who undertake this work as public servants, are puppets of the Chief Minister and pliant to his directions to engage a political pollster. Now, that is the allegation they are making.
Ms Martin: Spineless Chief Minister.
Mr BURKE: The Leader of the Opposition said: ‘You spineless Chief Minister’. I would like her to expand on that statement, and she might like to do it in front of the media, because there is only one path that allegation can go. Because if you suggest that Mark Textor has been engaged for political purposes it is a direct allegation against two senior public servants, at least.
Ms Martin: No, it’s you.
Mr BURKE: No, it’s not. Two senior public servants at least, because if they are abiding by directions given by me, they have broken the code of conduct for public service and should be immediately sacked. Now that is the allegation you have made. She is calling for the Secretary of the Department of Chief Minister and/or his deputy to be sacked because they are actively involved in party political polling. Is that the allegation? Stand up and nod your head or not. Nod your head or not. She has no idea what she – this is why the Ombudsman needs to carry forward the sorts of allegations this woman makes. This is why she makes allegations against the police and uses her staff to set out to deceive police. She engages in this almost as if she has had specialist training, but this is the only way you do business, continual deceit and it extends to the sort of allegations being made now.
The public servants who work independent of my direction – now it has to be very clearly understood that the Department of Chief Minister is not a political office. It is like Prime Minister in Cabinet, it is not a political office.
Ms Martin: You had your hands all over the Government Communications Office. You were involved in all the meetings.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Martin: You are!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: These are public servants who are taking Foundations for Our Future …
Ms Martin: You are involved in all the meetings.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition is adding nothing at all to this debate by continually interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Ms Martin: The Chief Minister keeps directing questions directly to me and I think he should be …
Mr SPEAKER: It is very difficult with the continual interjection that is coming from the opposition benches currently, it is very difficult for a minister in responding to a question not to respond to interjections. So if you were to keep it down just a little, I am sure that we would get through. We have had five questions in 40 minutes and largely because of the interjections.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, it is important for Territorians to know that these public servants are taking the Foundations for Our Future strategy and they are conducting research that involves both national surveys and local surveys. It has or will involve local focus groups; it will involve focus groups from other states of Australia. They will look at past research that both the government and other organisations have conducted about the Northern Territory. They will compile all of that research over a period of about 12 months or more to develop a strategy to market the Northern Territory as a place to live, work and invest. From that strategy we will develop an image for the Northern Territory to be marketed both interstate and overseas. We will have promotions about the Northern Territory and those promotions will be directed from that strategy. We will also promote the kinds of services and initiatives that we are doing in the Northern Territory under the Foundations for Our Future as part of that whole strategy.
This is legitimate research that is being conducted by hard working public servants on behalf of Territorians to ensure that the Northern Territory is competitive and marketed, to both Australians and overseas, as a place to live, work and invest. Part of that developing strategy is to look at the web-site that is being developed, the Northern Territory government website. I was speaking to one business person last night who told me that their ability to attract one specialist individual to the Northern Territory to come and work really rested primarily, at the end of the day, with that person cruising that particular website. We have to use all the methods we can and the best strategy that we can employ in order to position the Northern Territory competitively against other jurisdictions.
What the Auditor-General did say in his comments, the only comment that was really a political comment was that where taxpayers’ money is being used for any kind of publication paid for by the taxpayer should not criticise the policies of other political parties and therefore gain electoral advantage. That is on page 23 of the Auditor-General’s report. He referred to two publications, one is Territory Today, which is put out at taxpayers’ expense. This comes from my office, it comes through the Department of Chief Minister, I believe, and if anyone would like to peruse that article, and I will table it, there is not one comment in there that could be construed in any way as criticising the policies of other political parties to your own advantage. I table that.
The Auditor-General also referred to the articles, newsletters that the Opposition Leader puts out. It is called her Parliamentary Report. It is put out in droves by the opposition, all over the Northern Territory ...
Ms Martin: And you have approved it for three years.
Mr BURKE: Listen. This is the lady who tries to occupy the high moral ground. Put out in bundles all across the Northern Territory and all at taxpayers’ expense. How does this documentation meet the test of the Auditor-General? He has said:
Any taxpayer funded publication should not criticise the policies of other political parties and so gain electoral advantage.
‘CLP sticks to petrol price hike’, Clare. This is the Opposition Leader’s newsletter. ‘CLP plan to push petrol prices up’. It goes on: ‘Damn the CLP not Darwin Harbour’.
Now, I have said on many occasions that when it comes to the waste of taxpayers’ money for political advantage, this is the kind of publication that should be stopped. This is the kind of hypocrisy the Labor Party engages in, and this is the sort of stuff the Auditor-General has commented on as being the sort of publication that is wrong to use taxpayers’ money to pay for.
To quote the Chief Minister on radio this morning: ‘The purpose of the polling was to help the government look at its strengths and weaknesses’. Chief Minister, will you now admit you have been caught out continuing the same corrupt practices as your predecessor, as so clearly revealed by former government adviser, Andrew Coward?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it is worth Territorians being very sure that once again, and I know most of them would not read the Ombudsman’s report and depend on media comment for their information, but it is important to emphasise that at no point in the Ombudsman’s report does he make any allegation against government in terms of using taxpayers’ money for political purposes.
Ms Martin: We are talking about the Auditor-General’s report.
Mr BURKE: Sorry - the Auditor-General make any comment against the processes that hard-working public servants in the Department of Chief Minister made in making their decisions to engage Wirthlin, the organisation that has conducted part of our market research, as the tenderer to government.
The information I have been given is that, as we know, the research was commissioned by senior marketing staff in the Government Communications Office. This research was based on their own extensive experience in commissioning market research, and they came to the opinion that no other company had the experience in social research at both the Territory and national ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: That they were the company that had the experience in social research at both the Territory and national level to conduct the research required and to deliver the strategic recommendations needed to build a marketing strategy. This is what was ...
Ms Martin: A proven liar.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: It is important for Territorians to know this is what was provided to the Auditor-General and accepted by the Auditor-General. Firstly, the first hand knowledge of the work of Wirthlin ...
Mr Stirling: He tells lies.
A member: He scares the hell out of you lot, doesn’t he?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I intend to sit down if the opposition won’t be quiet, because there is no way that Territorians can hear my answer.
The Auditor-General accepted the public servants decision to engage Wirthlin based on their first hand knowledge of the work of Wirthlin conducting research in the Northern Territory. Whether the opposition like a company that Mark Textor is the Australian manager of or not – it scares the hell out of them in some respects – but the simple fact is this, that particular company including Mark Textor have recently been engaged in three states in the United States as part of the Bush campaign. They have worked under the Keating government. They are part of an international company. They enjoy enormous respect particularly in the Northern Territory where their experience in the Northern Territory is second to none.
The principal, Mark Textor, is a Territory boy. We are particularly proud that he has reached the levels he has in market research. But in any case ...
Mr Stirling: He’s a filthy lying grub, and you employ him.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: I want to make it very clear to Territorians ...
Mr Stirling: This is the bloke you’re proud of…
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Nhulunbuy that you are on a warning.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, I want to make it very clear to Territorians that the kind of allegations and comment coming from the Leader of the Opposition and her deputy is not directed at me. It is directed at Paul Tyrrell who is the Secretary of the Department of Chief Minister.
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: They laugh. Now, if they laugh, they therefore are suggesting that Paul Tyrrell and his deputy, Chris Bigg, who undertake this work as public servants, are puppets of the Chief Minister and pliant to his directions to engage a political pollster. Now, that is the allegation they are making.
Ms Martin: Spineless Chief Minister.
Mr BURKE: The Leader of the Opposition said: ‘You spineless Chief Minister’. I would like her to expand on that statement, and she might like to do it in front of the media, because there is only one path that allegation can go. Because if you suggest that Mark Textor has been engaged for political purposes it is a direct allegation against two senior public servants, at least.
Ms Martin: No, it’s you.
Mr BURKE: No, it’s not. Two senior public servants at least, because if they are abiding by directions given by me, they have broken the code of conduct for public service and should be immediately sacked. Now that is the allegation you have made. She is calling for the Secretary of the Department of Chief Minister and/or his deputy to be sacked because they are actively involved in party political polling. Is that the allegation? Stand up and nod your head or not. Nod your head or not. She has no idea what she – this is why the Ombudsman needs to carry forward the sorts of allegations this woman makes. This is why she makes allegations against the police and uses her staff to set out to deceive police. She engages in this almost as if she has had specialist training, but this is the only way you do business, continual deceit and it extends to the sort of allegations being made now.
The public servants who work independent of my direction – now it has to be very clearly understood that the Department of Chief Minister is not a political office. It is like Prime Minister in Cabinet, it is not a political office.
Ms Martin: You had your hands all over the Government Communications Office. You were involved in all the meetings.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Martin: You are!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: These are public servants who are taking Foundations for Our Future …
Ms Martin: You are involved in all the meetings.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition is adding nothing at all to this debate by continually interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Ms Martin: The Chief Minister keeps directing questions directly to me and I think he should be …
Mr SPEAKER: It is very difficult with the continual interjection that is coming from the opposition benches currently, it is very difficult for a minister in responding to a question not to respond to interjections. So if you were to keep it down just a little, I am sure that we would get through. We have had five questions in 40 minutes and largely because of the interjections.
Mr BURKE: Mr Speaker, it is important for Territorians to know that these public servants are taking the Foundations for Our Future strategy and they are conducting research that involves both national surveys and local surveys. It has or will involve local focus groups; it will involve focus groups from other states of Australia. They will look at past research that both the government and other organisations have conducted about the Northern Territory. They will compile all of that research over a period of about 12 months or more to develop a strategy to market the Northern Territory as a place to live, work and invest. From that strategy we will develop an image for the Northern Territory to be marketed both interstate and overseas. We will have promotions about the Northern Territory and those promotions will be directed from that strategy. We will also promote the kinds of services and initiatives that we are doing in the Northern Territory under the Foundations for Our Future as part of that whole strategy.
This is legitimate research that is being conducted by hard working public servants on behalf of Territorians to ensure that the Northern Territory is competitive and marketed, to both Australians and overseas, as a place to live, work and invest. Part of that developing strategy is to look at the web-site that is being developed, the Northern Territory government website. I was speaking to one business person last night who told me that their ability to attract one specialist individual to the Northern Territory to come and work really rested primarily, at the end of the day, with that person cruising that particular website. We have to use all the methods we can and the best strategy that we can employ in order to position the Northern Territory competitively against other jurisdictions.
What the Auditor-General did say in his comments, the only comment that was really a political comment was that where taxpayers’ money is being used for any kind of publication paid for by the taxpayer should not criticise the policies of other political parties and therefore gain electoral advantage. That is on page 23 of the Auditor-General’s report. He referred to two publications, one is Territory Today, which is put out at taxpayers’ expense. This comes from my office, it comes through the Department of Chief Minister, I believe, and if anyone would like to peruse that article, and I will table it, there is not one comment in there that could be construed in any way as criticising the policies of other political parties to your own advantage. I table that.
The Auditor-General also referred to the articles, newsletters that the Opposition Leader puts out. It is called her Parliamentary Report. It is put out in droves by the opposition, all over the Northern Territory ...
Ms Martin: And you have approved it for three years.
Mr BURKE: Listen. This is the lady who tries to occupy the high moral ground. Put out in bundles all across the Northern Territory and all at taxpayers’ expense. How does this documentation meet the test of the Auditor-General? He has said:
Any taxpayer funded publication should not criticise the policies of other political parties and so gain electoral advantage.
‘CLP sticks to petrol price hike’, Clare. This is the Opposition Leader’s newsletter. ‘CLP plan to push petrol prices up’. It goes on: ‘Damn the CLP not Darwin Harbour’.
Now, I have said on many occasions that when it comes to the waste of taxpayers’ money for political advantage, this is the kind of publication that should be stopped. This is the kind of hypocrisy the Labor Party engages in, and this is the sort of stuff the Auditor-General has commented on as being the sort of publication that is wrong to use taxpayers’ money to pay for.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016