Ms MARTIN - 2000-06-15
Ms MARTIN: Why was Dennis Hatcher who was so well thought of in the sporting community in the Territory and around Australia got rid of without so much as a word of explanation given either to himself or his staff?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, like most things in life there are at least two sides to just about every issue; there are two sides to the story. Let me just fill in some of the background.
Dennis Hatcher was head of the NTIS. The NTIS was set up by this government to identify and foster Territory athletes in a bid to help them get to the top in elite sports. Dennis Hatcher worked with approximately 20 other staff to build an institution which could serve government policy.
Dennis was a contract employee. He was employed until 30 June this year and that was his contract. He was employed for a set period of time. The decision was taken within the department and the Office of the Public Service Commissioner not to renew the contract. I was kept informed of the detail of what was going on.
Mr Stirling: What reason?
Mr LUGG: I will not tell you the reason because the detail of a person’s contract …
Mr Stirling: You didn’t even tell Hatcher.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Martin: Or his staff.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: What is going on with a person’s individual contract is their private business. It is not up to me to parade it in the media. No matter what you think, I am not going to do it. I would not do the same with you; I didn’t do it with him.
Dr Dennis Hatcher was a contract employee. The decision was taken within the department, and after consultation with the previous head of the department and the Office of Public Service Commissioner, not to offer him a renewal of that contract. His work ceased at the end of his contract. I was kept informed of what was going on, and I agreed with the decisions they were taking. The reasons were valid. The process they entered into was fair. Dr Hatcher was told what was going on. They decided not to renew his contract.
I can understand that there would be some apprehension. There would be some disturbance. Let me just go a bit broader. In the post-Olympic era in Australia, the federal government will cut some $120m from its support of elite sport. Now, in that climate ...
Ms Martin: We are going to get rid of the NTIS, are we?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: There is constant chattering over there. You want to know the answer. If you will just be quiet, I will give it to you. Is that what you want, or do you just want to keep nitpicking?
In the post-Olympic era in Australia, substantial funding cuts will be made to elite sport. That is a decision of the federal government where a lot of that funding comes from. The reason it will be cut is because this funding was extra and it was in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics. After the end of the Olympic period it goes back to situation normal. Most of the elite athletes in the program know that will happen and I accept there was some apprehension out there. Does this mean that the Northern Territory government is going to do a similar thing? I was at pains, through the media, to assure our Olympic athletes and our hopefuls who want to get to the top of their sport that nothing could be further from the truth. If you do not understand that, I will repeat it. This government which set up the NTIS plans to continue its support of its programs, its funding and its ideals to give Territory kids the best hope they have of getting to the top of their chosen sport at home. So that is the idea behind the NTIS.
It also operates in Alice Springs to give kids in regional centres a chance. What is going on here is simply a change in the management when the end of a contract expires.
Ms Martin: Why?
Mr LUGG: I have already told you I am not going to go into the detail of a person’s private business.
Members interjecting.
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr LUGG: You can talk. I am not going to engage in a sordid tit-for-tat debate through the media for the benefit of the members opposite.
This is normal government business; contracts come up from time to time; they are assessed on their merits and decisions taken. I can understand you don’t know all the detail. I can understand that there is a bit of apprehension out there. I have personally gone and met the whole staff. I have addressed the whole staff ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition.
Mr LUGG: Give us a break! I have addressed the whole staff out there, spoken to them personally ...
Ms Martin: You didn’t tell them why.
Mr LUGG: Oh, dear me! Do you want the answer, or not?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Sport and Recreation has the floor and we would be pleased if we could hear him in silence.
Mr LUGG: Do you really want the answer?
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: I personally went out to the institute and addressed all the staff. I said, ‘There has been a problem here. Mr Hatcher’s contract is not being renewed; this is decided within the department and the Office of the Public Service Commissioner’, and that is happening. But our commitment, the commitment of the Territory government which established this Institute, which funds its ongoing programs and which fosters and identifies Territory talent, is ongoing and getting stronger.
I also addressed the staff of the department, and I said: ‘Look, these things happen ...
Mr Stirling: ‘There has been a problem. But we won’t talk about it’.
Mr LUGG: Why should you? It is private business. I would do the same for you. I mean if you worked for me and you did something which warranted your dismissal, I wouldn’t go and tell all the rest of the troops ...
Mr Stirling: You said the bloke was doing a good job.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: ‘I sacked Syd Stirling because of this, this and this’.
There are some people in this House - and this may be of interest to you; it is probably a bit foreign to you - but there are some people in this House who have ethical standards about these things. These things are difficult. They are not pleasant. One takes no pleasure in them, but it doesn’t mean it is not right. The athletes out there accepted that. That’s really all I am going to say about it. But it is business as usual. It is business as usual for the NTIS.
Mr Stirling: All you have done is fuel speculation as to what he might have done now.
Mr LUGG: And you’re not? You’re kidding, Syd. Mr Speaker, it is a complete mischief for the opposition to make these allegations and to suggest the place is falling apart through doom, gloom, player morale.
By way of finishing up, the NTIS cricket team for the first time won the Territory championship against the reigning champions Darwin. That’s the Barclay Mowlem Super 8s, just this weekend.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, like most things in life there are at least two sides to just about every issue; there are two sides to the story. Let me just fill in some of the background.
Dennis Hatcher was head of the NTIS. The NTIS was set up by this government to identify and foster Territory athletes in a bid to help them get to the top in elite sports. Dennis Hatcher worked with approximately 20 other staff to build an institution which could serve government policy.
Dennis was a contract employee. He was employed until 30 June this year and that was his contract. He was employed for a set period of time. The decision was taken within the department and the Office of the Public Service Commissioner not to renew the contract. I was kept informed of the detail of what was going on.
Mr Stirling: What reason?
Mr LUGG: I will not tell you the reason because the detail of a person’s contract …
Mr Stirling: You didn’t even tell Hatcher.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Martin: Or his staff.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: What is going on with a person’s individual contract is their private business. It is not up to me to parade it in the media. No matter what you think, I am not going to do it. I would not do the same with you; I didn’t do it with him.
Dr Dennis Hatcher was a contract employee. The decision was taken within the department, and after consultation with the previous head of the department and the Office of Public Service Commissioner, not to offer him a renewal of that contract. His work ceased at the end of his contract. I was kept informed of what was going on, and I agreed with the decisions they were taking. The reasons were valid. The process they entered into was fair. Dr Hatcher was told what was going on. They decided not to renew his contract.
I can understand that there would be some apprehension. There would be some disturbance. Let me just go a bit broader. In the post-Olympic era in Australia, the federal government will cut some $120m from its support of elite sport. Now, in that climate ...
Ms Martin: We are going to get rid of the NTIS, are we?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: There is constant chattering over there. You want to know the answer. If you will just be quiet, I will give it to you. Is that what you want, or do you just want to keep nitpicking?
In the post-Olympic era in Australia, substantial funding cuts will be made to elite sport. That is a decision of the federal government where a lot of that funding comes from. The reason it will be cut is because this funding was extra and it was in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics. After the end of the Olympic period it goes back to situation normal. Most of the elite athletes in the program know that will happen and I accept there was some apprehension out there. Does this mean that the Northern Territory government is going to do a similar thing? I was at pains, through the media, to assure our Olympic athletes and our hopefuls who want to get to the top of their sport that nothing could be further from the truth. If you do not understand that, I will repeat it. This government which set up the NTIS plans to continue its support of its programs, its funding and its ideals to give Territory kids the best hope they have of getting to the top of their chosen sport at home. So that is the idea behind the NTIS.
It also operates in Alice Springs to give kids in regional centres a chance. What is going on here is simply a change in the management when the end of a contract expires.
Ms Martin: Why?
Mr LUGG: I have already told you I am not going to go into the detail of a person’s private business.
Members interjecting.
Mr Ah Kit interjecting.
Mr LUGG: You can talk. I am not going to engage in a sordid tit-for-tat debate through the media for the benefit of the members opposite.
This is normal government business; contracts come up from time to time; they are assessed on their merits and decisions taken. I can understand you don’t know all the detail. I can understand that there is a bit of apprehension out there. I have personally gone and met the whole staff. I have addressed the whole staff ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition.
Mr LUGG: Give us a break! I have addressed the whole staff out there, spoken to them personally ...
Ms Martin: You didn’t tell them why.
Mr LUGG: Oh, dear me! Do you want the answer, or not?
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Sport and Recreation has the floor and we would be pleased if we could hear him in silence.
Mr LUGG: Do you really want the answer?
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: I personally went out to the institute and addressed all the staff. I said, ‘There has been a problem here. Mr Hatcher’s contract is not being renewed; this is decided within the department and the Office of the Public Service Commissioner’, and that is happening. But our commitment, the commitment of the Territory government which established this Institute, which funds its ongoing programs and which fosters and identifies Territory talent, is ongoing and getting stronger.
I also addressed the staff of the department, and I said: ‘Look, these things happen ...
Mr Stirling: ‘There has been a problem. But we won’t talk about it’.
Mr LUGG: Why should you? It is private business. I would do the same for you. I mean if you worked for me and you did something which warranted your dismissal, I wouldn’t go and tell all the rest of the troops ...
Mr Stirling: You said the bloke was doing a good job.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr LUGG: ‘I sacked Syd Stirling because of this, this and this’.
There are some people in this House - and this may be of interest to you; it is probably a bit foreign to you - but there are some people in this House who have ethical standards about these things. These things are difficult. They are not pleasant. One takes no pleasure in them, but it doesn’t mean it is not right. The athletes out there accepted that. That’s really all I am going to say about it. But it is business as usual. It is business as usual for the NTIS.
Mr Stirling: All you have done is fuel speculation as to what he might have done now.
Mr LUGG: And you’re not? You’re kidding, Syd. Mr Speaker, it is a complete mischief for the opposition to make these allegations and to suggest the place is falling apart through doom, gloom, player morale.
By way of finishing up, the NTIS cricket team for the first time won the Territory championship against the reigning champions Darwin. That’s the Barclay Mowlem Super 8s, just this weekend.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016