Mr WOOD - 2014-05-15
During the Cold War, communists infiltrated society through various bodies like the unions, media, teachers and the public service. Mao Tse-tung once said, when talking about cadres:
I notice a similarity when I see various board and other positions in government being given to members of the CLP. In fact, you just put a member of your party on the Litchfield DCA. Do I understand this is a liberalist policy by your government to make sure the cause of the proletarian – sorry, capitalist free market and open for business revolution – will continue and not be impeded by those pesky privileged bourgeois rural Territorians who hold another view, like Palmerston suburbs stay out of Holtze? Or is the C in CLP closer to communist than country?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is closer to caring, member for Nelson, compassionate, considerate – I could go through the dictionary.
One of the first things I did as Chief Minister was establish an economic development panel made up of three people, one of whom was Doug McTaggart, former Under Treasurer in Queensland, who worked – correct me if I am wrong – for both Labor and Liberal governments in Queensland. I put on Ian Smith, who I met with last night, who is trying to do a deal with Adelaide United. His wife is Natasha Stott Despoja, a former Democrat. I also put on former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Paul Henderson, a Labor Chief Minister. I did that because I thought they could add value in developing the economic profile of the Northern Territory.
We do not have boundaries in political affiliations about how we want to grow the Northern Territory. I took a lot of heat from many people about the appointment of Paul Henderson, but I thought it was really good for us to get a great level of connectivity between the former Chief Minister’s networks, and to provide him an opportunity in his new business career by assisting us in what we want to do. I had no issue about his former political party status, member for Nelson and Madam Speaker. That shows a clear ability for us …
Ms Lawrie: One out of how many?
Mr GILES: There is range of them, member for Karama and Leader of the Opposition. We do not have a concern if you are Labor-aligned or not aligned with anybody. We want to grow the Northern Territory, build infrastructure, attract investment and build jobs for kids.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I am particularly interested in the Development Consent Authority appointments the member for Nelson asked about.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Barkly. Chief Minister, can you get to the point of the question.
Mr GILES: I cannot recall the appointment to the DCA. I will have to get some information about who that was. I was just told we advertised for people who wanted to be appointed to the DCA. We do that for all DCA appointments; we advertise and seek expressions of interest as well as take people from council to go on to the DCA.
The fundamental point is that we appoint people based on merit. We appoint people who want to grow the Northern Territory and do the job. We have an open transparent approach.
The member for Nelson and others are talking about inquiries. That drives things underground. We want to be open. We want the Electoral Commission to table who makes donations to whoever. We want companies like Foundation 51 to operate under the guidelines they have under their company’s rules and regulations. It has nothing to do with what happens inside this Chamber, and you have to be able to remove the politics and have transparency and accountability.
Getting back to your point, member for Nelson, the C in Country Liberals stands for caring, compassion, consideration and a cooperative approach.
- In order to guarantee that our party and country do not change their colour, we must not only have a correct line and correct policies but must train and bring up millions of successors who will carry on the cause of the proletarian revolution.
I notice a similarity when I see various board and other positions in government being given to members of the CLP. In fact, you just put a member of your party on the Litchfield DCA. Do I understand this is a liberalist policy by your government to make sure the cause of the proletarian – sorry, capitalist free market and open for business revolution – will continue and not be impeded by those pesky privileged bourgeois rural Territorians who hold another view, like Palmerston suburbs stay out of Holtze? Or is the C in CLP closer to communist than country?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is closer to caring, member for Nelson, compassionate, considerate – I could go through the dictionary.
One of the first things I did as Chief Minister was establish an economic development panel made up of three people, one of whom was Doug McTaggart, former Under Treasurer in Queensland, who worked – correct me if I am wrong – for both Labor and Liberal governments in Queensland. I put on Ian Smith, who I met with last night, who is trying to do a deal with Adelaide United. His wife is Natasha Stott Despoja, a former Democrat. I also put on former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Paul Henderson, a Labor Chief Minister. I did that because I thought they could add value in developing the economic profile of the Northern Territory.
We do not have boundaries in political affiliations about how we want to grow the Northern Territory. I took a lot of heat from many people about the appointment of Paul Henderson, but I thought it was really good for us to get a great level of connectivity between the former Chief Minister’s networks, and to provide him an opportunity in his new business career by assisting us in what we want to do. I had no issue about his former political party status, member for Nelson and Madam Speaker. That shows a clear ability for us …
Ms Lawrie: One out of how many?
Mr GILES: There is range of them, member for Karama and Leader of the Opposition. We do not have a concern if you are Labor-aligned or not aligned with anybody. We want to grow the Northern Territory, build infrastructure, attract investment and build jobs for kids.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I am particularly interested in the Development Consent Authority appointments the member for Nelson asked about.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Barkly. Chief Minister, can you get to the point of the question.
Mr GILES: I cannot recall the appointment to the DCA. I will have to get some information about who that was. I was just told we advertised for people who wanted to be appointed to the DCA. We do that for all DCA appointments; we advertise and seek expressions of interest as well as take people from council to go on to the DCA.
The fundamental point is that we appoint people based on merit. We appoint people who want to grow the Northern Territory and do the job. We have an open transparent approach.
The member for Nelson and others are talking about inquiries. That drives things underground. We want to be open. We want the Electoral Commission to table who makes donations to whoever. We want companies like Foundation 51 to operate under the guidelines they have under their company’s rules and regulations. It has nothing to do with what happens inside this Chamber, and you have to be able to remove the politics and have transparency and accountability.
Getting back to your point, member for Nelson, the C in Country Liberals stands for caring, compassion, consideration and a cooperative approach.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016