Ms LAWRIE - 2012-12-05
I draw your attention to page 98 of the mini-budget:
This will put enormous pressure on public and private sector wage growth. Do you guarantee your public sector EBAs will involve at least a 4.3% increase, or will you be giving our nurses, teachers and police, along with every other public servant, a pay cut?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for the question. You still have not acknowledged the glaring fact that your own fiscal settings have been the largest contributor to the CPI increases. You will be out there claiming in the marketplace, quite falsely, that there has been a doubling in three months under the new government when, in fact, your own presentation to the Territory community has demonstrated the greatest ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. The question was, will he guarantee a 4.3% wage increase in the public EBAs? Otherwise will police, teachers and nurses get a pay cut from him?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is getting a bit silly because in order to answer the question I need to say a couple of things ...
Ms Lawrie: Get to the answer!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: I am on my way to saying those things. I do not want to be controlled by an Opposition Leader who is using the processes of the parliament to her advantage ...
Ms Walker:: The Opposition Leader is holding you to account.
Mr MILLS: The truth will hold you to account at the end of the day. The truth is, the greatest contribution to the rising cost of living in the Northern Territory is the settings that have already been established by the former government. We accept there has been an increase in the cost of living, but that is a fact. Do not say it is not true, and it goes away. It stands there for anyone to see, but you will not look at it. You are well suited to opposition because you are not accountable anymore, you can say whatever you like, create any story or myth you like. You will do very well ...
Ms Lawrie: Answer the question.
Mr MILLS: In answering the rude Opposition Leader’s question, we will negotiate in good faith because I reckon I have people who have a real interest in the future of the Northern Territory and who understand the facts and the reality. We are all in this together, and we will work this out together because we are all a part of some big enterprise. It is not a political enterprise to advance the interests of Delia Lawrie and the Labor Party; it is to advance the interests of the Northern Territory. I reckon everyone who enters those negotiations will be entering them with the future of their families, their children, and the Northern Territory in mind. We are in it together and will negotiate in good faith with people who love the Territory.
- Prices and Costs
...
In 2013, growth in Darwin’s CPI is forecast to strengthen to 4.3% reflecting increases in utility tariffs from January 2013, which are expected to add 1.1 percentage points to growth in the year.
This will put enormous pressure on public and private sector wage growth. Do you guarantee your public sector EBAs will involve at least a 4.3% increase, or will you be giving our nurses, teachers and police, along with every other public servant, a pay cut?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for the question. You still have not acknowledged the glaring fact that your own fiscal settings have been the largest contributor to the CPI increases. You will be out there claiming in the marketplace, quite falsely, that there has been a doubling in three months under the new government when, in fact, your own presentation to the Territory community has demonstrated the greatest ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. The question was, will he guarantee a 4.3% wage increase in the public EBAs? Otherwise will police, teachers and nurses get a pay cut from him?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is getting a bit silly because in order to answer the question I need to say a couple of things ...
Ms Lawrie: Get to the answer!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: I am on my way to saying those things. I do not want to be controlled by an Opposition Leader who is using the processes of the parliament to her advantage ...
Ms Walker:: The Opposition Leader is holding you to account.
Mr MILLS: The truth will hold you to account at the end of the day. The truth is, the greatest contribution to the rising cost of living in the Northern Territory is the settings that have already been established by the former government. We accept there has been an increase in the cost of living, but that is a fact. Do not say it is not true, and it goes away. It stands there for anyone to see, but you will not look at it. You are well suited to opposition because you are not accountable anymore, you can say whatever you like, create any story or myth you like. You will do very well ...
Ms Lawrie: Answer the question.
Mr MILLS: In answering the rude Opposition Leader’s question, we will negotiate in good faith because I reckon I have people who have a real interest in the future of the Northern Territory and who understand the facts and the reality. We are all in this together, and we will work this out together because we are all a part of some big enterprise. It is not a political enterprise to advance the interests of Delia Lawrie and the Labor Party; it is to advance the interests of the Northern Territory. I reckon everyone who enters those negotiations will be entering them with the future of their families, their children, and the Northern Territory in mind. We are in it together and will negotiate in good faith with people who love the Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016