Ms LAWRIE - 2016-05-26
The final fracking regulations to the Petroleum Act do not deal with Dr Tina Hunter’s recommendation 11 for well inspection to be a mandatory component of the regulatory regime. You have gone to great lengths to say that she is an expert, and she clearly stated in her recommendations that:
It is not in the regulations. This is world’s best practice. The regulations do not meet the recommendations of Dr Tina Hunter, so why are you giving us your shoddy, dodgy, pretend fracking regulations?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her inane question. I can see what is going on here. You are desperate to get back into the Labor Party and for Senate preselection. Every time there is a question about Labor finances, you are the attack dog for the other team; now you are the attack dog from some extreme left-wing anti-fracking mob. I do not know what it is about – attracting Green preferences in your seat or whatever but, please, if you need some information about hydraulic fracturing, how the gas industry works and the environmental regulations that will be put in place, then please come and get a briefing.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110. Why did you not adopt Dr Tina Hunter’s recommendation for third-party inspection of well integrity into the regulations? She is not extreme; she is not a left-winger, and you have held her up as the expert.
Mr TOLLNER: This is my point. If the member for Karama is so interested in this she would at least wait for the answer. Dr Tina Hunter’s recommendations have been accepted.
Ms Lawrie: No.
Mr TOLLNER: They have been accepted, member for Karama. The draft guidelines are still that: a draft. We are to debate it sometime this afternoon. You are pre-empting debate and now you want to interrupt again.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order, 110. The regulations are up; they are on the website. Why have you not adopted recommendation 11, which is about regulation for well integrity and independent inspection of wells to keep our environment safe?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Karama. I think the minister understands your question.
Mr TOLLNER: I think she is grandstanding for another audience. That is what I understand at the moment. The member for Karama has no clue what the guidelines are at this stage. There has been a significant consultation period. The draft guidelines have been out for comment and we have received 16 submissions, including one from Dr Tina Hunter, who we like to quote because she was brought to the Northern Territory by the Labor Party. We quote her because we think she might be someone you can accept as being an authority. You now want to bag out Dr Tina Hunter, who, in your words …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That is highly offensive. I have never bagged out the doctor.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Karama, please sit down. Minister, the member did not do that. She asked you a question so could you get to the point.
Mr TOLLNER: The member said Dr Tina Hunter stated these were world’s best-practice regulations, and that is a fact. Why would the member for Karama try to deny the facts? What is in it for the member for Karama? No one is suggesting gas drilling will happen in your back yard in Karama. No one thinks it will disrupt …
Ms Lawrie: I cannot care about the country?
Mr TOLLNER: You do not care about Karama. You care about Green preferences, member for Karama. You are so …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, direct your comments through the chair.
Mr TOLLNER: Of course, Madam Speaker. The member for Karama is a hollow drum. She is nothing but a noisy piece of something with no fact or basis to any of her questions. We are committed to driving economic growth in the Territory and to strong environmental regulations.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
- Well inspection by an independent certified third party inspector should be a mandatory component of the regulatory regime for drilling, and should be considered during the drafting of the relevant regulations.
It is not in the regulations. This is world’s best practice. The regulations do not meet the recommendations of Dr Tina Hunter, so why are you giving us your shoddy, dodgy, pretend fracking regulations?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her inane question. I can see what is going on here. You are desperate to get back into the Labor Party and for Senate preselection. Every time there is a question about Labor finances, you are the attack dog for the other team; now you are the attack dog from some extreme left-wing anti-fracking mob. I do not know what it is about – attracting Green preferences in your seat or whatever but, please, if you need some information about hydraulic fracturing, how the gas industry works and the environmental regulations that will be put in place, then please come and get a briefing.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 110. Why did you not adopt Dr Tina Hunter’s recommendation for third-party inspection of well integrity into the regulations? She is not extreme; she is not a left-winger, and you have held her up as the expert.
Mr TOLLNER: This is my point. If the member for Karama is so interested in this she would at least wait for the answer. Dr Tina Hunter’s recommendations have been accepted.
Ms Lawrie: No.
Mr TOLLNER: They have been accepted, member for Karama. The draft guidelines are still that: a draft. We are to debate it sometime this afternoon. You are pre-empting debate and now you want to interrupt again.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order, 110. The regulations are up; they are on the website. Why have you not adopted recommendation 11, which is about regulation for well integrity and independent inspection of wells to keep our environment safe?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Karama. I think the minister understands your question.
Mr TOLLNER: I think she is grandstanding for another audience. That is what I understand at the moment. The member for Karama has no clue what the guidelines are at this stage. There has been a significant consultation period. The draft guidelines have been out for comment and we have received 16 submissions, including one from Dr Tina Hunter, who we like to quote because she was brought to the Northern Territory by the Labor Party. We quote her because we think she might be someone you can accept as being an authority. You now want to bag out Dr Tina Hunter, who, in your words …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That is highly offensive. I have never bagged out the doctor.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Karama, please sit down. Minister, the member did not do that. She asked you a question so could you get to the point.
Mr TOLLNER: The member said Dr Tina Hunter stated these were world’s best-practice regulations, and that is a fact. Why would the member for Karama try to deny the facts? What is in it for the member for Karama? No one is suggesting gas drilling will happen in your back yard in Karama. No one thinks it will disrupt …
Ms Lawrie: I cannot care about the country?
Mr TOLLNER: You do not care about Karama. You care about Green preferences, member for Karama. You are so …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, direct your comments through the chair.
Mr TOLLNER: Of course, Madam Speaker. The member for Karama is a hollow drum. She is nothing but a noisy piece of something with no fact or basis to any of her questions. We are committed to driving economic growth in the Territory and to strong environmental regulations.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016