Ms LAWRIE - 2012-10-31
When you are in government you need to make choices for the priorities of your government. We chose to keep the costs of living down for Territorians by not passing on the full effect of the Reeves report. Why are you choosing to drive power prices up for Territory families and businesses to pay for your unfunded election commitments in the bush? The truth is you are showing you care more about turning the Power and Water Corporation into a profit-making enterprise than delivering the essential services to ensure Territorians can cover what they struggle to pay for power, water and sewerage in the Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question.
I find myself saying what I have heard the Leader of the Opposition say so many times in parliament before: you just do not understand. You do not understand, Leader of the Opposition, that the people of the Northern Territory are paying for your debt. They are paying to prop up the Power and Water Corporation now, and they have been for many years …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the member to direct her comments through the Chair.
Madam SPEAKER: Member, please direct your comments through the Chair. Thank you, member for Barkly.
Mrs LAMBLEY: Any defence is a good defence.
Madam Speaker, the reality of the situation is the former government has placed Territorians in a position where they are paying $750 000 per day, every day of the year, to pay off the nett debt they have left us. Much of this debt is due to the debts incurred by the Power and Water Corporation. The former Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition knows this, and she is pretending, once again, it is not there. .She is hiding behind a rock …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113, Relevance. She is making a choice to hike up power prices through her own actions.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, please be seated. Treasurer, if you could get to the point.
Mrs LAMBLEY: Madam Speaker, the former Treasurer was advised by the Reeves report in 2009 that prices had to go up for the purposes of providing revenue for the Power and Water Corporation. We have a situation in Power and Water where the costs outweigh the revenue – a very basic equation. The former Treasurer never understood it; she still does not understand it.
Tariffs have to go up in the Northern Territory so Power and Water Corporation has the revenue to cover its forever-expanding costs. It is a big business, it employs many people, and provides many services throughout the Northern Territory. Thank God the corporation is filled with very good people. That is what will get us through this situation, plus good saving measures, and good mechanisms in place to reform the corporation from top to bottom.
The Leader of the Opposition was told in the Reeves report and by Judith King, the former Chair of the board, that she had to increase tariffs in order to cover her expenses. She never took the advice. Instead, she has laden the people of the Northern Territory with a level of debt which is unsustainable. The people of the Northern Territory are paying right now.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question.
I find myself saying what I have heard the Leader of the Opposition say so many times in parliament before: you just do not understand. You do not understand, Leader of the Opposition, that the people of the Northern Territory are paying for your debt. They are paying to prop up the Power and Water Corporation now, and they have been for many years …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the member to direct her comments through the Chair.
Madam SPEAKER: Member, please direct your comments through the Chair. Thank you, member for Barkly.
Mrs LAMBLEY: Any defence is a good defence.
Madam Speaker, the reality of the situation is the former government has placed Territorians in a position where they are paying $750 000 per day, every day of the year, to pay off the nett debt they have left us. Much of this debt is due to the debts incurred by the Power and Water Corporation. The former Treasurer, the Leader of the Opposition knows this, and she is pretending, once again, it is not there. .She is hiding behind a rock …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113, Relevance. She is making a choice to hike up power prices through her own actions.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, please be seated. Treasurer, if you could get to the point.
Mrs LAMBLEY: Madam Speaker, the former Treasurer was advised by the Reeves report in 2009 that prices had to go up for the purposes of providing revenue for the Power and Water Corporation. We have a situation in Power and Water where the costs outweigh the revenue – a very basic equation. The former Treasurer never understood it; she still does not understand it.
Tariffs have to go up in the Northern Territory so Power and Water Corporation has the revenue to cover its forever-expanding costs. It is a big business, it employs many people, and provides many services throughout the Northern Territory. Thank God the corporation is filled with very good people. That is what will get us through this situation, plus good saving measures, and good mechanisms in place to reform the corporation from top to bottom.
The Leader of the Opposition was told in the Reeves report and by Judith King, the former Chair of the board, that she had to increase tariffs in order to cover her expenses. She never took the advice. Instead, she has laden the people of the Northern Territory with a level of debt which is unsustainable. The people of the Northern Territory are paying right now.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016