Mr VATSKALIS - 2013-12-03
Your Treasurer just told us there is a union and Labor Party conspiracy for the sale of government assets, but let us talk about who is talking about privatisation. On talkback radio on 5 September 2012, Terry Mills said privatising Darwin Port Corporation, as a revenue raising measure, has merit and should be considered. Any sale of Darwin port would be nothing more than a quick cash grab that pushes the cost of living in the Territory further upwards through increased freight charges. It is not the Labor Party and the unions talking about privatisation; it is one of your own. Will you now rule out the sale of Darwin port?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Casuarina for his question. The member for Fong Lim has answered the question about Power and Water, as have I on a number of different occasions. There is no doubt the government is looking at ways we can improve port facilities in the Northern Territory. We are looking at a second port. We are doing some modelling at the moment. We have a scoping study. We are identifying how we can have a master plan into the future for that second port, and we will see how we can best utilise the current port facilities.
How we will move forward to ensure that we get best commercial performance out of the port, we will keep under consideration. We want to ensure, in the development of northern Australia, the Northern Territory and Darwin, we have best utilised the ports and all considerations will be made about how we can best achieve that.
At the moment, there are no considerations to sell the port. I have not had a discussion with anybody about selling the port, but we will look at the best way to manage the port …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I appreciate the Chief Minister’s comments, but will he directly rule out the sale of the port of Darwin?
Madam SPEAKER: He has just said that, member for Nightcliff. It is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, we will look at all opportunities and options to get the best port facilities in the Northern Territory. We have not had any discussions on this side of the Chamber about selling the port. We think the port, as a strategic government asset, is very important.
We want to get the best processes under way for a seamless transition for a logistical supply chain to get product to the port in either direction. We will continue to work on that. We are working on a process to get a master plan developed and designed for a second port facility. That work is about to commence. We look forward to that opportunity. It is exciting to think what can be done in the Northern Territory, particularly around downstream processing. It is not a pipe dream, it is something we are clearly focused on and we will work on that. As soon as we have some information, we will bring it to the Chamber to let all Territorians know what we are trying to do to improve industry around the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Casuarina for his question. The member for Fong Lim has answered the question about Power and Water, as have I on a number of different occasions. There is no doubt the government is looking at ways we can improve port facilities in the Northern Territory. We are looking at a second port. We are doing some modelling at the moment. We have a scoping study. We are identifying how we can have a master plan into the future for that second port, and we will see how we can best utilise the current port facilities.
How we will move forward to ensure that we get best commercial performance out of the port, we will keep under consideration. We want to ensure, in the development of northern Australia, the Northern Territory and Darwin, we have best utilised the ports and all considerations will be made about how we can best achieve that.
At the moment, there are no considerations to sell the port. I have not had a discussion with anybody about selling the port, but we will look at the best way to manage the port …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I appreciate the Chief Minister’s comments, but will he directly rule out the sale of the port of Darwin?
Madam SPEAKER: He has just said that, member for Nightcliff. It is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, we will look at all opportunities and options to get the best port facilities in the Northern Territory. We have not had any discussions on this side of the Chamber about selling the port. We think the port, as a strategic government asset, is very important.
We want to get the best processes under way for a seamless transition for a logistical supply chain to get product to the port in either direction. We will continue to work on that. We are working on a process to get a master plan developed and designed for a second port facility. That work is about to commence. We look forward to that opportunity. It is exciting to think what can be done in the Northern Territory, particularly around downstream processing. It is not a pipe dream, it is something we are clearly focused on and we will work on that. As soon as we have some information, we will bring it to the Chamber to let all Territorians know what we are trying to do to improve industry around the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016